Random thoughts from a Renegade Mom

I'm not dead yet...

2006-05-04T23:31:00.000-05:00

my loyal, loyal readers...how I have let you down! Things have been a zoo since we left. Blaine hurt his shoulder while fixing up the house to sell (no. not on the market yet!) his mother had her gal bladder and with her cancer was (and still is) slow to recover. and now that my youngest is enrolled part time in the illness of the week club (aka day care) I have been laid up with the worst cold/flu I've had in year..Tuesday I slept 19 hours. and no cracks about avian flu, I don't want the men in white suits showing up on my door step!

But I'm marching on, hacking as I go. sorry was that my lung I just spat at you?

I do have some interesting things to talk about, all be them old news I'm sure, in the next few days if my strength keep up...

stay tuned, if you are still there at all!

Concern Over Rising Preterm Births

2006-04-24T20:12:00.000-05:00

Doctors in this week's BMJ express concern over the apparent increase in preterm births.

Research from Denmark, published on bmj.com in February, found that preterm deliveries increased by 22% from 1995 to 2004. Even among low risk women aged 20-40, there was a 51% increase in early delivery.

The study also showed that assisted conceptions, multiple pregnancies, and elective deliveries increased during this time and were associated with early birth.

Now doctors in the UK warn that, if these trends are real, the impact for society is considerable.

Preterm deliveries account for fewer than 1 in 10 births but result in 75% of neonatal deaths and most neonatal intensive care admissions, write Andrew Shennan and Susan Bewley of St Thomas' Hospital, London.

Preterm birth also has considerable impact on long term future health. For instance, 1 in 4 survivors born less than 25 weeks' gestation have severe mental or physical disability. Even beyond 32 weeks, 1 in 3 children have educational and behavioural problems by the age of 7.

Obstetricians should re-evaluate the risks and benefits of delivering babies earlier. If these findings from Denmark are true, the implications are worrying.

Earth Day Footprint Quiz

2006-04-22T15:36:00.000-05:00

Earth Day Footprint Quiz

So in honor of earth day I took the quiz, not as bad as I thought, but not really good either:


	CATEGORY	ACRES

	FOOD	5.4

	MOBILITY	1

	SHELTER	4.7

	GOODS/SERVICES	5.2

	TOTAL FOOTPRINT	16

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 3.7 PLANETS.

Hyperactivity, Sleepiness, And ADHD Often Improved After Tonsillectomy

2006-04-20T12:38:00.000-05:00

About half of the children in the study who were found to have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder before tonsil surgery no longer met criteria for this diagnosis one year later. Other cognitive and behavioral issues also improved.

On the whole, the 78 children who had their tonsils out were much more likely than a comparison group of 27 children to have had behavior and sleep problems at the start of the study. But by the end of the study, tests showed little difference between the two groups.

The researchers caution that their results do not yet prove cause and effect, and that tonsillectomy is not usually a "cure" for ADHD. But, they say, the growing body of evidence on this issue suggests that a significant number of children with inattention, hyperactivity, or sleepiness during the day - and also sleep-breathing problems at night - may benefit during both the night and day by tonsillectomy, an operation that was once performed on more than a million children a year but has become much less common in recent decades.

Now I personally find this to be common sense. Too many times people will push off behavior issues as "something wrong" with the child when it really is over scheduled, lacking in sleep and out right frazzled at a young age.

One of the most telling findings was that HALF the children (11 out of 22) "diagnosed" with ADHD did not have the condition one year after their tonsillectomy. But even more important was a few children developed ADHD a year after the surgery, supporting previous evidence that sleep-disordered breathing causes damage that may not be seen until much later.

The bottom line for parents, Chervin and his colleagues say, is that any child who snores regularly, or has other signs of breathing problems during sleep, may benefit from an evaluation for sleep problems and perhaps from tonsillectomy - especially if the child is also having behavior problems at home or school.

"If you have a child who has difficulties with attention deficit, hyperactivity, or daytime sleepiness, there may be something that can be done about it if the child proves to have a sleep disorder," Chervin says. "An undiagnosed sleep disorder is not the solution for all children with ADHD. But it could be something worth looking into for a substantial minority, especially those children with symptoms that suggest a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea."
"

Sex Equality Linked To More Satisfying Sex Lives

2006-04-20T12:22:00.000-05:00

According to new research, couples enjoy better sex lives in countries where sex equality is best. Austria and Spain seem to have the most satisfied couples, while the Middle-East and parts of Asia have the least.

You can read about this study in the journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour.

According to the researchers, most couples are sexually active well into their eighties. Participants had to fill in a questionnaire.

The findings revealed vast differences between satisfaction rates of men and women.

Lack of foreplay seems to be more of a problem for women who live in male dominated societies. In order to reach a climax, foreplay is more important for women than for men.

Women who are in a relationship where things are not going well tend to switch off more from sex than men. The researchers suggested this may be a way of regulating pregnancy and protecting children.

Men's perceptions of women's level of satisfaction seems over-optimistic. 45% of the men in this study thought their partners always had an orgasm. However, only 26% of the women confirmed this.

The study revealed that Austria has the most satisfied couples in the world. 80% of Austrian men and 63% of Austrian women were either extremely or very satisfied with their sex lives. Spain came second. Japan came bottom.

60-80% of couples who live in countries with greatest equality were satisfied with their sex lives. In male-dominated societies, such as parts of the Middle East and some parts of Asia, satisfaction rates ranged from 20-50%.

As you can see from the lists below, Mexico came up among the top ten. Even though it is known as a male dominated society, satisfaction rates are high. Spain used to be very male dominated, over the last thirty years Spanish society has changed a great deal.

Top Ten Countries
% of people satisfied with their sex lives

-- Austria - 71.4%
-- Spain - 69.0%
-- Canada - 66.1%
-- Belgium - 64.6%
-- United States - 64.2%
-- Australia - 63.6%
-- Mexico - 63.2%
-- Germany - 62.0%
-- Sweden - 60.5%
-- United Kingdom - 59.8%

Bottom Five Countries
% of people satisfied with their sex lives

-- Thailand - 35.9%
-- China - 34.9%
-- Indonesia - 34.0%
-- Taiwan - 28.7%
-- Japan - 25.8%

Email rumors and Moral dilemma...

2006-04-17T20:24:00.000-05:00

My Inlaws are not techno savvy and they are constantly "taken" by email rumors. I am always telling them that the interesting, outrageous, and funny things they tell me are all email rumors.

But, I'm torn, MIL told me this weekend that she was really doubting her loyalty to Bush...all the poor choices he's been making and the mess we are in with Iraq....AND that he has the lowest IQ of any president in the past 50 years. This is a Hoax, that even a few news papers have run as real news.

I feel an obligation as their DIL to tell them, but having my very republican Inlaws say this just kills me...

Oh, what should I do???

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here

2006-04-16T11:30:00.000-05:00

News of optomism. This wonderful website, WorldChanging: Another World Is Here, reports on all the good things that people are doing.

WorldChanging.com works from a simple premise: that the tools, models and ideas for building a better future lie all around us. That plenty of people are working on tools for change, but the fields in which they work remain unconnected. That the motive, means and opportunity for profound positive change are already present. That another world is not just possible, it's here. We only need to put the pieces together.

look for Home Design Round-up, The Beastie Boys are Open Source!, Pay-Per-Mile Car Insurance: It's Coming.

Very funny!!

2006-04-16T08:23:00.000-05:00

1- Go to Google

2- Type in the word "Failure"

3- Instead of clicking "Google Search," click
"I'm Feeling Lucky."

4- :)

5- Spread the word before the people at Google
"fix" it.

life has been crazy

2006-04-12T11:15:00.000-05:00

sure, I'll get back with you in a few days! HA!

life has just been crazy. there is so much unpacking still to do, not to mention the hours and hours of work I'm having to do at the office...on only three hours a day, b/c of daycare right now!

I'll post later today or tomorrow about all the fun I'm having...

We Survived, Sort of...

2006-03-30T05:03:00.000-06:00

Well we are here, all moved in. Most of the boxes are unpacked. I really love the house we are renting, not so much the house itself (it's really poorly built, with the cheapest materials on the market) but the lay out of the house is so different from our old house.

We lived in a craftsman cottage, while very charming and very, very well built, was laid out horribly! the kitchen was right next to the bedrooms and the kitchen and dining room were in separate parts of the house. The floor plan of this house just flows and I really feel at ease here!

Thanks all for the well wishes. I'm still going to be a bit spotty on posting for maybe another week while I'm settling in, talk to you all soon!

gina

no computer!!!

2006-03-23T19:42:00.000-06:00

Going offline won't have internet for almost a week!

Retired Supreme Court Justice hits attacks on courts and warns of dictatorship

2006-03-20T11:31:00.000-06:00

This story has really been undercovered by the news. I wanted to share!!!

The Raw Story | Retired Supreme Court Justice hits attacks on courts and warns of dictatorship:
Supreme Court justices keep many opinions private but Sandra Day O'Connor no longer faces that obligation. Yesterday, the retired justice criticized Republicans who criticized the courts. She said they challenge the independence of judges and the freedoms of all Americans. O'Connor's speech at Georgetown University was not available for broadcast but NPR's legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg was there.

Nina Totenberg: In an unusually forceful and forthright speech, O'Connor said that attacks on the judiciary by some Republican leaders pose a direct threat to our constitutional freedoms. O'Connor began by conceding that courts do have the power to make presidents or the Congress or governors, as she put it "really, really angry." But, she continued, if we don't make them mad some of the time we probably aren’t doing our jobs as judges, and our effectiveness, she said, is premised on the notion that we won’t be subject to retaliation for our judicial acts. The nation’s founders wrote repeatedly, she said, that without an independent judiciary to protect individual rights from the other branches of government those rights and privileges would amount to nothing. But, said O'Connor, as the founding fathers knew statutes and constitutions don’t protect judicial independence, people do."

And then she took aim at former House GOP leader Tom DeLay. She didn’t name him, but she quoted his attacks on the courts at a meeting of the conservative Christian group Justice Sunday last year when DeLay took out after the courts for rulings on abortions, prayer and the Terri Schiavo case. This, said O'Connor, was after the federal courts had applied Congress'onetime only statute about Schiavo as it was written. Not, said O'Connor, as the congressman might have wished it were written. This response to this flagrant display of judicial restraint, said O'Connor, her voice dripping with sarcasm, was that the congressman blasted the courts.

It gets worse, she said, noting that death threats against judges are increasing. It doesn't help, she said, when a high-profile senator suggests there may be a connection between violence against judges and decisions that the senator disagrees with. She didn’t name him, but it was Texas senator John Cornyn who made that statement, after a Georgia judge was murdered in the courtroom and the family of a federal judge in Illinois murdered in the judge’s home. O'Connor observed that there have been a lot of suggestions lately for so-called judicial reforms, recommendations for the massive impeachment of judges, stripping the courts of jurisdiction and cutting judicial budgets to punish offending judges. Any of these might be debatable, she said, as long as they are not retaliation for decisions that political leaders disagree with.

I, said O'Connor, am against judicial reforms driven by nakedly partisan reasoning. Pointing to the experiences of developing countries and former communist countries where interference with an independent judiciary has allowed dictatorship to flourish, O'Connor said we must be ever-vigilant against those who would strongarm the judiciary into adopting their preferred policies. It takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, she said, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings.

Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

Postsecret

2006-03-19T15:37:00.000-06:00

Postsecret

I was really moved by this postcard and wanted to share. It really is my life, details changed, and I do love the person who I am today, no matter what happened in the past.

Need a break

2006-03-14T13:55:00.000-06:00

So I am just to busy to blog right now. I am not going to be able to make regular post for then next 3 weeks.

If you are looking for a good read, hit my blogRoll. I really enjoy everyone on there!!!

gina

FDA Panel Backs Return Of MS Drug

2006-03-10T07:14:00.000-06:00

FDA Panel Backs Return Of MS Drug

"A promising drug for multiple sclerosis should be returned to the market despite questions about a rare brain disease, scientific advisers told the government Wednesday, even as they continued to grapple with just who should be allowed to use it.
"

This is a very interesting case. The Drug, Tysabri, was taken off the market because several patients came down with a very rare and potentially fatal brain infection, PML. The Manufacturers pulled the drug from the markers voluntarily after two patients died after being on the market for just four months.

This particular drug was VERY successful in treating MS and the patients stood behind the drug, saying with a progressive illness such as MS patients should be the one to make the call about the risk.

patients testified to the FDA Panel pleading for the drug to be put back on the market.

"I am at the end of my road, in terms of what I can take. I want it to be my choice," said Barbara Crooks, 48, shortly before testifying. She and her husband, David, traveled from the Pittsburgh area to speak.

The risk? Perhaps one in every 1,000, eventually will get the often-fatal virus believed to cause PML.

The benefit? Current drug treatment reduces relapse by 1/3 this new drug by 2/3.

Three studies recently published by the New England Journal of Medicine found that Tysabri alone or with standard interferon treatment cut the rate of relapse in MS patients by as much as two-thirds after two years and reduced the number of people whose MS got worse, compared to those on a dummy treatment or interferon alone.

"The two-thirds reduction in relapse rate cannot be ignored. It is a striking result," said Dr. Richard Rudick, a neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic who appeared before the panel on behalf of Biogen.

I think the FDA made the right call on this one. With progressive, debilitating illnesses patients should have more of a choice!

Saturn moon might spout water, NASA probe finds

2006-03-10T07:01:00.000-06:00

A little tidbit for all you sciene fiction writers!

"NASA's Cassini spacecraft might have discovered water geysers on one of Saturn's moons, raising the possibility that conditions favorable for life in our solar system are more common than once was thought."

One of the things that is baffling scientist is how the water near the pole's surface is kept liquid. They believe there is a heat source in the core of the moon.

Bad Days

2006-03-07T19:42:00.000-06:00

So I had a fabulous trip with lots to tell, next time.

I'm having a bad day and am not up to blogging.

After losing my keys in Costco and having to spend 3 hours there with a 2 and 4 yr old. My loving husband took me out to eat, against my will!!! In the parking lot I smashed my hand on the door of the car. The kids were their usual horrible selves, and the meal was not at all relaxing. The only highlight was the drink I had! Ya for liquor!!!

Well we got home and a beeline for the door so I can put the kids to bed, and guess what????

I left my keys at the restaurant!

I think I'm going to bed right now!

Off to find a place to live.

2006-03-01T23:54:00.000-06:00

So wish me luck, I'm leaving tomorrow to find a place to rent. We're going to be there for a year while we sell this place and build a new home for us. I'm hoping to find a fabulous place for really cheap!! I'll be back on Monday...

Have a great weekend!

NPR : A Guide to Navigating Health Research

2006-03-01T18:44:00.000-06:00

I have a great deal of experiance reading and understanding research data, but even for me research data can be hard to understand and even slightly misleading at first glance. I highly recommend this discussion about understanding health studies to anyone who would like to be better informed about how to do their own research!

NPR : A Guide to Navigating Health Research: "Health studies are released every day, and it can be difficult to make sense of the data. Barnett Kramer, associate director for disease prevention at the National Institutes of Health, provides some insight on understanding scientific data."

On the same note this is a very good discussion on current women's health issue:

Talk of the Nation, Fifteen years and 160,000 women later, the Women's Health Initiative completes its research and assesses results. Guests review the most definitive study yet on older women's health.

Honda (UK) - Civic

2006-03-01T18:30:00.000-06:00

To put a more "human face" on the Honda civic in the UK, Honda has just released this wonderful commercial. Check it out(click Watch):

Honda (UK) - Civic

Parking Vigilante

2006-02-28T09:07:00.000-06:00

Parking Vigilante

"GLASSBORO, N.J. -- She's not a police officer, but Maryann Cottrell has been enforcing New Jersey's handicapped parking laws anyway.

The 53-year-old woman has reported nearly 300 motorists for illegally parking in handicapped spots, by using her tiny camera to take pictures.

State law requires police and prosecutors to take the people Cottrell reports to court.

So far, she's nabbed two Philadelphia Eagles football players, mail trucks and so many Rowan University students that the college has barred her from campus.

Rowan University notified a local activist for the disabled Wednesday that if she ever steps one foot on the school's campus, she'll have a trespass complaint filed against her.

The university's public safety department delivered the trespass notice to Maryann Cottrell after receiving complaints from students and a campus security officer about the Glassboro woman's campaign against people who park illegally in handicapped spaces, said Tim Michener, the public safety director.

Cottrell says she's sensitive to the handicapped parking issue because her 20-year-old daughter has autism and a variety of physical ailments.

what would you do with millions?

2006-02-24T18:24:00.000-06:00

so my hubby and I have been doing some dreaming about what we might do if we suddenly found our selves with money coming out our wazzo!

We've talked mostly about building our dream homes. I'm torn b/w having that country farm/orchard that I've had a fantasy about for the past several years and having the ridiculously large house with the manicured lawns and the live in help.

I'd love to live on 15 simi-wooded acres with a large plot for a substainible garden, some chickens (even thought I hate chickens), horses for the kids and a lovely brook running through the property. I have visions of the kids running happily unencumbered by traffic or strangers, picking berries, playing in the creek, taking care of the animal. A dog plays a role in the fantasy also. I can see myself picking corn for dinner and baking peach pies fresh picked from our orchard.

In reality I don't think I'd ever be able to keep up with that kind of lifestyle I've never lived like that, I don't know the first thing about growing crops or taking care of animal. I'd most likely bore with the whole vision after a few years and when the kids started to whine that there was nothing to do and they wanted to go into town to play at the playground.

On the other hand having that house in the "gated" community that had two wings and an indoor pool. Having a maid, or a staff of housekeepers. That would be great.

But I'd worry that my children would lose touch with the realities of the world and grow up republican! I don't want to be one of THOSE people. I, PERSONALLY, don't like Those people. I'd never make friends. We'd never be invited to the Jones house b/c we aren't OLD money. I'd have a hard time keeping my real friends b/c they'd be uncomfortable with the whole "filthy rich" crowd we lived around. I'd get calls about my kids throwing things at the neighbors yipp-yipp dog.

Maybe if faced with a butt load of money, we wouldn't change too much. Get a nicer house. Better cars. Take trips when we wanted to, not when we could afford to. Have a kick ass computer and home theater. But other than that, I can't think of what I would realistically change.

So how about you??? What's your fantasy? What do you think you'd do in reality??

report from the front line

2006-02-23T18:29:00.000-06:00

If this move doesn't kill me, I'm not sure my marriage will survive!

I've never moved with my husband before. He had this house when we met. I "donated" all my furniture to my roommate when I moved in here. I had one car load of personal things to move. But now I have a whole house to move.

36 days, what I would otherwise view as a long time for planning and moving sounds like two days to me. And I feel like I'm at it alone.

Now don't get me wrong my husband has been a super troop, hauling boxes to storage, hauling boxes up and down stairs, but I have never seen anyone pack like him.

He has to pick up and look at and think about every thing he puts in the box. It is driving me mad. I pack (or really we are going through the boxes that where stored in the attic/basement) four boxes for every one he muddles through.

And to top it all off the kids are really starting to stress. And when my kids stress out they act up.

Did I say 36 days seem like just a few, well on the note of family relations I think 36 days might as well be 6 months!

I'm off NEXT weekend to look at some rental houses. It kills me to go back to renting, but we are not going to be able to get our house on the market for several months after we move.

But at least this way we can really talk about building a house this time!!!

The signs point to the end of the world!!!!

2006-02-22T19:15:00.000-06:00

The first sign of the apocalypse is upon us!!

The words "No, Blaine, I think you're wrong. I agree with President Bush." Actually came out of my mouth!!! Get all your affairs together and prepare!

Yes, I know, I disagreed with my republican husband on the side of Bush!

But I do agree that it would be wrong, hypocritical, even dangerous for the US to hold Mideast countries to a different standard than it would any other foreign country.

For those of you not up on the news:

At issue: Bush's strong defense of an arrangement that would put a
government-owned United Arab Emirates company in charge of major
shipping operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans,
Miami and Philadelphia.

The deal transferring port management from a British firm to Dubai
Ports World has already been approved by both companies and an
administration review panel.

Despite Bush's assertion that UAE has been one of the most helpful Arab
countries in the war on terror, both Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
of Tennessee and House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois threatened
legislation to put the deal on hold. Bush, in turn, vowed to cast his
first veto - if necessary - to stop any such attempt.

Now the truth. Dubai
is a Holding company. Strictly speaking, the term "holding company" might be used to describe
any company that owns a majority of shares in another company. Usually,
though, the term signifies a company which does not produce goods or
services itself, but, rather, whose only purpose is owning shares of other companies (or owning other companies outright). An American company RUNS the ports. The US COAST GUARD controls SECURITY at our ports.

Now that being said, I do think there is a lot to be said about our port security...mainly IT SUCKS. Some real talk about the security of our ports would do us some good.

But again, I have to agree. I don't think there is a major risk from having Dubai
take over for the British company.

Drink (Breast)Milk to loss weight!

2006-02-21T18:56:00.000-06:00

A new study published by Dr. Matthew W. Gillman has concluded that the longer infants are breastfed, the lower their risk of being overweight as a teenager.

The study claims that there does not appear to be direct correlation to sociocultural factors, it's purely the breastfeeding. The study controlled for the fact that, now a days, breastfeed babies are likely to come from educated, higher income families where children are less likely to be over weight to begin with. So the study followed families that had siblings that had different breastfeeding lengths. They found that even within a single family, children who were breastfed for a longer time were slightly less likely to become over weight than their siblings who were breastfed for a shorter period.

It was found that each 4-month increase in breastfeeding was linked to a 6 percent dip in the risk of becoming overweight by adolescence.

A theory for this is that breast milk may have lasting metabolic effects that aid in weight control. Or, possible, the breastfeeding, itself, has behavioral effects; with breastfeeding, the length of any one feeding depends mostly on the baby, whereas mothers who bottle-feed may keep feeding their infants until the bottle is empty.

Religion in literature...sort of.

2006-02-20T21:24:00.000-06:00

The WildHunt has provided me with some interesting links, the first is a look at some of our "favorite" Science fiction authors and their religious affiliations. It's interesting to look back at some of the works I've read and think about how their religion may have influenced their work.

The second is a look at ther religion of comic book characters... Storm (X-men) and Dr. Leslie Thompkins (batman's close friend) are both Goddess worshipers and my favorite:

the Legion of Buddhist super-heroes:

Wolverine Swift Shockwave Dalton Dr. Druid Green Arrow Multiple Man Thunderbolt Harvest Bulletproof Monk Tara

I mean really who knew that Buddhism lent itself to being a superhero!

Prediction of death

2006-02-19T06:42:00.000-06:00

Researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center have created an index that is 81 percent accurate in predicting the likelihood of death within four years for people 50 and older.

The index, which weighs different mortality risk factors according to a simple point system. The studies authors are saying that this is potentially useful to health care providers, policymakers, and researchers.

The information can be obtained using only a 12-question form that "could be completed in a few minutes by a patient or medical office receptionist," according to lead author Sei J. Lee, MD, a geriatric specialist at SFVAMC.

The authors say "For patients and caregivers, predicting near-term likelihood of death is useful when making decisions about medical tests and clinical care. For example, is it worth it to order a Pap smear or colonoscopy for a particular patient? Those sorts of screening interventions generally don't help patients until five to eight years after they are given. Doctors need to get a sense of who will survive long enough to benefit."

While I do agree with the studies authors that this could be a very helpful tool to a number of people, I worry that they will be using it just as the authors describe. Denying care to people "predicted" to die.

This could potentially be used to increase life span. If morbidity in forcasted in four years, then a doctor can look to see what factors could be changed to improve a patients chances of survival. But instead I fear that this will be a tool that is used to evaluate the benefit of giving care to patients.

"Well it looks as if you will be dead in the next four years so we can cancel that mammogram and the cholesterol screening. Hey you'll be dead before either of those will kill you.

Cute

2006-02-17T23:01:00.000-06:00

Gina --

[noun]:

A beat poet working the streets

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

what a difference a week makes

2006-02-17T19:09:00.000-06:00

okay, so I've been gone for about a week. We went to the InLaws for a last minute trip to get things straightened with this whole billing thing.

Well, I was very surprised when everything we had agreed on over Christmas was change. It's a Win-Win Good/Bad thing.

The Win-Win thing is that if things go even HALF as well as planned, we will be doubling our income by next year!!!! The Good/Bad thing is we have to move...by next MONTH!!!

Blaine will be working with MILs business partner setting up a new company that will be handling the medications of the patients they have on service.

On average, there is a $30 profit on each Rx. With patients on an average of 6 meds a piece and a client base of 150 (that cycles with about 70 new patients each 90 days), you can do the math yourself, even if 1/3 of the patients select to join the new Rx benefit, it will be profitable!

But the catch is the partner wants to start right away, next week to be exact. There is only so much we can do here so we need to move by the end of next month!

The only really bad thing is that our house is in no state to sell, so we will be renting over there and keeping our house until we can finish it. Double the bills for most likely four months. I don't think we can do that, but MIL insures me that they won't let us go bankrupt.

Being the worrier I am, I'm not so sure. But like the supportive wife I am, I came home and started packing. I have no idea how to pack with kids!!! My youngest spent half the time pulling out the stuff that I had just packed!

Well wish us luck, luck with the move, luck with the whole "new business" thing, luck with my sanity!

Ice Cream Flavor

2006-02-10T13:57:00.000-06:00

CHERRY GARCIA!
You scored 70% SWEET, 51% CHUNKY, and 59% UNIQUE!

cherry sweet cream base with cherries and fudge chunks

Awesome...you are one of my personal favs: Cherry Garcia. You fall in the middle on all measurements- sweet, wild, and unique, but not overwhelmingly so on any of those. You make a good friend, able to share your unique perspectives on things, and able to have fun without winding up in jail or something. Good job.

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 32% on SWEET
You scored higher than 5% on CHUNKY
You scored higher than 29% on UNIQUE

Link: The Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Flavor Test written by weered1 on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Via pam

Girly Gene found

2006-02-10T13:39:00.000-06:00

I have discovered how to activate the "girly" gene. I'm in no way "girly". Spiders, mice, bugs...don't bother me, that is until yesterday!

We've had some visiters wintering with us. A nice family of mice have moved into our basement. I've seen one once or twice in the basement while doing the laundry, but when I saw one in the kitchen I knew we needed to get rid of them. So I set "live" traps for them. And I caught one.

Now I have handled mice before and have even seen these mice in our house, but for some reason my girly gene kicked in to high gear. When I went to retrieve the trap with the mouse in it, I was over come with a sudden and uncontrollable shudder. I tossed the trap all the way across the kitchen with mouse in tow and proceeded to scream like a little girl. The trap broke open and the mouse scurried across the floor, at which time I jumped on the counter and screamed for my husband.

The cat having heard the commotion woke from his midmorning nap to see what was up. He proceded on chasing the mouse around the kitchen, which just made me shudder and scream more.

My dear husband came in the kitchen to find me on the counter throwing pot holders at the cat and screaming every time they came my direction. Being my hero he scooped the mouse up in a plastic cup and tossed out in the back yard.

It really must be the muscle relaxers, I have never acted that way before. It was an uncontrollable instinct. So now I know how to activate the girly gene, it's up to science to isolate the gene.
/>

You're a pain in the neck!

2006-02-08T18:33:00.000-06:00

Thanks you guys for all the support. I pinched a nerve in my neck Monday and now I'm on killer muscle relaxers! (funny I wasn't even think about taking your advice

jaelithe! Just happened that way )

so now my husband is getting the kids dressed in the morning and mikal off to school since I can't turn my head more that 15 degrees to the right, we decided it would be best for me not to drive.

But as usual, I did two loads of laundry and unloaded the dish washer, It's that "mom" drive in my. I know if those things don't get done every day then we'll not have anything to ware or eat off of.

But the hubby has kicked in a lot more than usual!

I make a bad wife

2006-02-05T15:38:00.000-06:00

So Illness has taken hold of our household. The hubby and the little girl are both in the deep recesses of the flu, and the little boy told me today "I have a frog in my throat". I can wait on my children, put up with the crabbiness and whinny little voices, but I can't deal with a sick husband.

My husband, in typical male fashion, gets short tempered and needy when sick. He wants, and to be honest expects, me to fetch him stuff, ranging from food to medication to warming up heat packs for him. I should be willing to hop and fetch everything for him with out an issue and I do for the most part.

But, deep down (and some times not so deep) I get really angry at him for being sick. Illogical I know. I can't help but remembering ALL the times I was sick, really sick, and not only had to get stuff for myself but had to watch and care for two children. Feed, cloth, bath, make sure they didn't kill one another. How many times that I wanted to stay in bed and sleep 20 hours, but I had responsibilities to the children.

I know I should take pity on my husband, I should make sure he gets well sooner without complaining and being pissy. It's just so hard to think in the back of my mind "I didn't get to lay around why should he!"

I'm such a bad wife...

Things I've learned from the poison control

2006-02-03T23:09:00.000-06:00

(disclaimer...if you suspect a poisoning or overdose please contact your local poison control)
Kids are too curious, they will get into anything! I have had my share of scares.

I have become very friendly with the poison control nurses over the last four years. Here are a few things I've learned:

Ways to get capsaicin (the oil from hot peppers) of your skin:
Wash hands with a grease cutting soap in HOT water and soak in lemon juice.
you can also try: Germ-X, soaking in milk, or milk of magnesia, tomato paste

I was cutting some peppers I grew in my garden, I had no idea how hot the peppers were. I went and nursed my son after washing my hand, a few minutes into nursing my hands started to burn, then the baby started to cry and my breast started to burn. I tried everything on that list.

Medication
Tylenol:
A 30lb 3yr old can drink 3 bottles of infant tylenol before it becomes toxic

Children's Liquid cold medication:
A 1yr old can drink half a bottle of Children's cold med before you need to see the doctor.

Sprays and Cleaners:
Lysol:
If you get Lysol in your eyes you need to flush eyes for 10 min. the area around the eyes that were sprayed will become red and irritated, looking like you were hit in they eye and make strangers look at your parents suspiciously!

Concentrated Orange oil cleaner:
If Orange oil get in the eye, you must flush for 15 min. This is not something I recommend doing with a 3 year old, it was almost 3 months before he would get in the shower again.

Ipecac is no longer advised to induce vomiting for poising. The reason? ERs use Activated Charcoal, ipecac may result in your child being unable to tolerate activated charcoal or other poison treatments.

Other:
Comfrey, a plant we grow can cause liver damage, but a small amount is not harmful to eat.

Keep the number of the Poison Control
Center posted near the phone; the universal number in the U.S. is 1/800-222-1222

death to tyranny!

2006-02-02T08:08:00.000-06:00

You will go to jail for:	Setting off cherry bombs on the roof of your school while yelling death to tyranny!

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Igot this from cmhl, and it really cracked me up.

Happy Imbolc!

2006-02-01T23:12:00.000-06:00

Happy Imbolc!

Now we banish the Winter!
Now We welcome the Spring!

Imbolc, also known as Imbolg, Oimelc, and Candlemas is one of our Greater Sabbats, and is one of the oldest on the Wiccan calendar.

Did Bush really Say Switchgrass?

2006-02-01T23:05:00.000-06:00

So I didn't listen to the SOU last night, but I did hear the hight lights. What was that I heard SwitchGrass? Did the president actually utter those words? Surely there is some mistake!!

Yes, he was talking Ethanol. Ethanol, could it replace Gas? The answer may be no, but it can have a significant impact. Look at Brazil, 15 years ago they began using cellulose from sugar cane to create ethanol, and it now uses 50 percent less gasoline. The price of ethanol is 1/2 that of gas. They have gone so far as to claim themselves "energy independent".

What about my 4 MPG SUV??? you might say. Well it can be as simple as $100/car. Some new hoses and a new gas cap, and thank you ma'am, you are on ethanol.

So what's the issue?
Well years past ethanol was mainly produced by corn, it actually took more energy to produce it then you got out of it. Very costly and not very environmentally friendly! But with technology and innovation there is big changes. The smart way to produce ethanol now if from cellulose. The output is higher, it cost less energy to grow, plants like switchgrass are a perennial crop that grows naturally everywhere east of the rocky mountains (and has be successfully planted all across the US). It has a productive stand life of 10 or more years, low disease instance and minimal insect problems.

The real issues are production plant, there isn't a base in the US. The problem with Bush's proposal ( see you though I was going to be all praise....you know me better) he wants our focus to be on research. There needs to be more spent on infrastructure. There has been lots of research, lets get to production.

Building plants to convert plant material to ethanol will not only decrease demand of oil, it will create jobs and save farms across the country. There is also a huge advantage to the developing world. Let our farmers grow cash crops that will produce ethanol and stop overproduction of cereal crops. overproduction in the richest countries that leads to dumping in the developing world.

And think about the impact on our environment. Switchgrass is a prairie grass. Can you really imagine replanting our tallgrass prairies. The impact on grassland birds and game birds and mammals would be great. It doesn't need to be planted on flat areas, it can be planted on highly erodible sites and help improving water quality. It improves the soil that it's planted on. It is also easy to switch, switchgrass can easily be rotated with farmers regular crops and be grown and harvested with equipment that most farmers already use.

Now to be honest, ethanol is not "clean" it does create smog, but hey it's a start. I'm ready to fill up my tank, let's hope the government doesn't drop the ball on this one!!!

incase you were confused:

2006-01-31T21:31:00.000-06:00

You scored as Democratic Socialist. You are a Demcratic Socialist!
You beleive that the government should support programs like social welfare and that there should be a small gap between the rich and the poor.

Democratic Socialist

83%

Liberal

75%

Centrist

75%

Green Politics

67%

Liberatarian

58%

Conservative

42%

Communist

33%

Nationalist

25%

What is your political ideology?
created with QuizFarm.com

The fact that I even scored a 42 on conservative is surprising, maybe my husband is rubbing off on me....

Consumer driven health care

2006-01-31T17:45:00.000-06:00

A few words on Health care, before the state of the union address tonight. Bush will most likely talk about Health savings accounts. I support HSA, but not as the "solution" for health care.

The main element of Bush's plan would be health savings accounts, which allow people to save money tax-free. The accounts are used for medical expenses up to a preset deductible amount, and once that threshold is met, insurance takes over. Any money not used can roll over from one year to the next, and the cost of the policies is usually lower than that of traditional health insurance plans.

"Health savings accounts all aim at empowering people to make decisions for themselves, owning their own health care plan, and at the same time bringing some demand control into the cost of heath care," Bush said. "Our view is that if you're a consumer of health care and you're in the marketplace making health care decisions, it is more likely that there [would] be more cost control in health care than a system in which the consumer of health care has his or her health care bills paid by a third-party provider."

Under Bush's proposal, a family of four earning less than $25,000 a year would receive $1,000 a year toward their accounts. The families also would be eligible for $2,000 in refundable tax credits, which would go toward purchasing their health insurance policies -- which the White House said average $3,300 a year. Families choosing traditional insurance would be eligible for $3,000 in refundable tax credits to put toward their plans.

That's a really nice talk, but lets really examine what that can mean:

They are hoping that this will make it more like your traditional auto insurance, they don't pay for oil changes, tires and batteries, but they pay out when you smash into a light post. But there are serious problems here.

I don't know what type of plan you can get for $3,300/yr but I couldn't get insurance for my self for under $140/month (1,680/yr) when I had a job that didn't offer it.

Take a family of 4 making under 25,000/yr take home would be about 1,650/month (give or take a few dollars). the white house would then like you to spend that $275 of that on health insurance -- That will be REFUNDED at the end of the year. It doesn't sound like alot, but It's 1/6th of your income, and that's if you are at the top bracket of the proposal.

Let's look at a Single mom, two kids, middle class $31,000/yr (making ends meet with a little extra, but not much). You have one of these account with $1800 in it and a self bought insurance that has a high deductible. If something happens you have the money to cover the deductible. You don't want to spend the money going to see the doctor every time you feel bad, you're saving money. But, by not seeing the doctor regularly and getting "routine maintenance" you miss out on cholesterol screening, mammograms, pap smears, and this low cost "maintenance" turns out to be a hundred thousand dollar case of cancer or bypass surgery. Or if one of the children get sick she could be forced to pay the $10,000 deductible spending a total of $11,800 or 1/3 or her salary!

Persons with high-deductible health plans are significantly more likely to avoid, skip or delay health care because of cost than those in comprehensive health insurance. This problem is most commonly seen in individuals with health problems or incomes below $50,000. Thirty-one percent (31%) of individuals in high-deductible health plans reported delaying or avoiding care, compared to 17% in comprehensive health plans. 1

Now let's look at the upper Class. As proposed, the lifetime savings account would allow any individual regardless of age or income to shelter an annual contribution of $7,500 that could be withdrawn for any reason. That means a family of four could sock away $30,000 every year and not pay a penny of taxes on the wealth that grows. 2

Let's also take a look at how traditional insurance works now. The reason why it's cheaper to get insurance from your employer than it is to get it all by your lonesome, is risk pools. In an office of 500 people, 25 people may be high risk (just an illustration), 150 may have moderate problems, and 325 may be healthy adults 25-35 with little risk of high health cost. By averaging the cost of care over this group you significantly lowers the cost for the high risk people and raises the cost slightly for the low risk group.

By offering a haven for healthy individuals that is lower cost, you are hanging the sick out to dry.

Most health spending is by those with multiple chronic conditions. These individuals will never be able to accumulate funds in a health savings account and will have to find the funds to cover all their care before meeting their high-deductible plan begins to cover them. Traditional insurance will become unaffordable.

Now I like health savings accounts provided by employers. I participated in one. But I am not very ill or low income. I could afford to take the money out of my paycheck and knew I was saving money.

This is not the answer to our health care issues. It is not the solution to the uninsured or the soaring health cost. This may even cause more problems then we have now.

News: "Breastfeeding a plague"

2006-01-30T09:40:00.000-06:00

Despite a national push to give vitamin D to breastfed babies, some Boston-area children -mostly African-American - are still suffering from rickets, a virtually extinct disease that has roared back to plague physicians and patients alike.

The boon in breastfeeding - mother's milk doesn't have sufficient vitamin D - is partly to blame. So is the widespread advice to stay out of the sun. Rickets, which can deform bones and stunt growth, is caused by a severe deficiency in vitamin D, the chief sources of which are dairy milk and sunlight.

The sad thing is that the media is treating this as a plague!It's the fault of an uninformed population, not of "boon in breastfeeding". I know mothers who don't want to give a vitamin D drop, but being well informed on the subject, make sure their children are expose to a healthy amount of sun light. Sunshine is a significant source of vitamin D because UV rays from sunlight trigger vitamin D synthesis in the skin. Ten to fifteen minutes of sun exposure at least two times per week to the face, arms, hands, or back without sunscreen is usually sufficient to provide adequate vitamin D

But being informed is important. For example: sunlight exposure from November through February in Boston is insufficient to produce significant vitamin D synthesis in the skin. Complete cloud cover halves the energy of UV rays, and shade reduces it by 60%. Industrial pollution, which increases shade, also decreases sun exposure and may contribute to the development of rickets in individuals with insufficient dietary intake of vitamin D.

There are also disorders that may make you Vitamin D deficient:
Pancreatic enzyme deficiency, Crohn's Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Celiac Disease (Gluten intolerance), and Liver disease. Some of these disorders may not be diagnosed until later in life.

There is a risk of an overdose of Vitamin D.

Vitamin D toxicity can cause nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, constipation, weakness, and weight loss. It can also raise blood levels of calcium , causing mental status changes such as confusion. High blood levels of calcium also can cause heart rhythm abnormalities. Calcinosis, the deposition of calcium and phosphate in the body's soft tissues such as the kidney, can also be caused by vitamin D toxicity

But you won't read these things in the newspaper, no the only thing you'll read is:

While an increasing number of mothers breastfeed, breast milk doesn't have an adequate amount of vitamin D, which enables the body to absorb bone-fortifying calcium, doctors said.

Happy Chines New Year.

2006-01-29T23:05:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Year of the Dog

1922, 1934,
1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006

People born
in the Year of the Dog possess the best traits of human nature.
They have a deep sense of loyalty, are honest, and inspire other
people¡¦s confidence because they know how to keep secrets. But
Dog People are somewhat selfish, terribly stubborn, and eccentric.
They care little for wealth, yet somehow always seem to have money.
They can be cold emotionally and sometimes distant at parties. They
can find fault with many things and are noted for their sharp tongues.
Dog people make good leaders. They are compatible with those born
in the Years of the Horse, Tiger, and Rabbit.

The "little" guy strikes back

2006-01-28T20:10:00.000-06:00

You may have missed this grand story about how the "little guy" in scotland was able to stop a powerful developer right in his tracks. Alway routing on the underdog, here's the story:

Villagers of the small town of St. Fillans, Perthshire stopped construction of a new housing development. They protested that a large rock protruding from the ground, slated to be dug up and removed was the home to a colony of fairies...no that wasn't a typo. Believing he was dealing with a small bunch of wackos from the town, the company met with the community council, they not only supported the group but threatend to lodge a complaint with the planning authority.

The Planning Inspectorate has no specific guidelines on fairies but a spokesman said: "Planning guidance states that local customs and beliefs must be taken into account when a developer applies for planning permission."
Mr Salter said: "We had to redesign the entire thing from scratch."

The new estate will now have a small park, the center piece will be the fairies home, the big rock.

25 Signs You've Grown UP

2006-01-27T08:12:00.000-06:00

25 Signs You've Grown UP

1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of "hook up" and "break up."
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."
10. You're the one calling the police because those % kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You take naps.
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset rather than settle, your stomach.
19. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never going to drink that much again."
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25. When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate them instead of asking "Oh S*$# what the hell happened?"

Bonus:

26:
You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't
apply to you and can't find one to save your sorry old butt.

Bonus (Renegade mom):
27: Your roommates are immature, selfish, loud and very untidy...but now they are your children, instead of college buddies.

Tanks Guppy man

Child's play

2006-01-26T10:10:00.000-06:00

New research sheds light on the relationships your children build at early ages and what affect those relationships may play on thier development.

While it may look like child's play, the relationships kids form with their peers from the young age of six months through adolescence exert enormous influence on their lives - whether fostering positive feelings through friendship, or contributing to school-adjustment and later-life problems through bullying and rejection.

In his book, "Children's Peer Relations and Social Competence: A Century of Progress," Gary Ladd, Arizona State University professor of psychology and human development, examines the role of peer relationships in child and adolescent development by tracking major research findings from the 1900s to the present.

Among the many topics considered are peer acceptance and rejection, friendship development, school adjustment, bullying, self-esteem, loneliness, and the roles that sex differences, emotions, and culture play in peer relations.

"Children begin their lives in the social world of their families, however, as they mature they are introduced to the social world of peers and spend increasing amounts of time with kids their own age," Ladd says. "The types of relationships they form differ from those they have with parents and siblings and teach them unique skills that impact their development. Peer relationships are more balanced and the partners tend to bring similar levels of ability, reasoning and skill to their interactions."

As early as preschool, children face such challenges as making a new friend, maintaining existing friendships, fitting into peer groups and avoiding bullies, and all of these interpersonal skills require both complex thinking and behavioral skills, he says.

Some of the skills children learn through their peer relationships include assertiveness, conflict management, how to earn respect and control aggression. Research also indicates that play with peers provides children with important opportunities to discuss feelings, expand thought processes and knowledge, and experiment with language and social roles.

Some of children's behavior with their peers is influenced by what they learn from their parents and siblings. If parents engage in coercive behavior, Ladd says, children are also more likely to do so. If parents teach their children empathy, they are more likely to take their friends' feelings into consideration.

Some of children's "social competence," however, is innate. Some kids are motivated to have a few good friends, some like being a part of large groups. Some are naturally aggressive and some are passive.

Despite what parents may think, making friends is not always easy. It is difficult for kids to enter ongoing playgroups and research reveals that even toddlers are rejected by their peers 50 to 70 percent of the time. Some children know how to successfully enter the group, and others do not.

Ladd's book reveals that many children have problems relating to peers, and not all influences peers have on each other are positive.

"Children who are very shy or anxious or overly aggressive often get caught up in bully-victim relationships that have negative impact on both children," Ladd says. "It is also common for children with social difficulties to be excluded from everyday peer activities and experience feelings of discomfort, sadness and alienation. Adverse peer experiences can be stressful for children and, if persistent, can lead to feelings of anxiety, depression and loneliness."

By surveying a century of research, Ladd's book reveals that there are substantial differences in how children approach interpersonal tasks such as making a friend and establishing a social reputation among peers. While he does not "lay out a formula" for parents to help their children improve their social skills and peer relationships, he does note that studies suggest some interventions, such as teaching children prosocial peer interaction skills and those intended to reduce such behaviors as aggression can improve peer acceptance.

"To effectively change children's peer relationships - especially undesirable relationships or reputations that have been entrenched for many years - it may not be sufficient to increase children's social competence without also altering their peer and family environments," Ladd adds. "Children must be taught forgiveness and empathy, and must learn to be accepting of individual differences."

For more than 20 years, Ladd has conducted research on peers and peer relations. He directs the Pathways Project, a long-term investigation of children's social, psychological and scholastic development that has generated substantial research findings about children's peer relations and social competence. His work is supported by the National Institutes of Health.

I have always know how important peer relationships were for children, I never knew that those relationships started so early.

Bitter Pill

2006-01-26T09:35:00.000-06:00

The gifts, drugs and classes that makers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices routinely give doctors undermine medical care, hurt patients and should be banned, a group of influential doctors say in today's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

They are recommending that doctors should be "shut off" from drug makers to insure that doctors aren't influenced to make medical decisions based solely on "marketing".

I have mixed feeling about this. I do think that drug makers are incarnatly evil. They market to an unsuspecting public, that knows little about their own health, let alone have the ability to make complex choices like what medication may be right for their medical conditions. I feel that drug marketers do take time away from doctors practice. They also spend tens of BILLIONS a year to convice doctors to prescribe their medications...and despite what they may say, it's far more then they spend on research and development. There are even those doctors out there that get a very healthy boost to their income "consulting".

But, having family who works in the health care industry, and moving in that direction myself, I do see some of the good that comes from drug "marketing.

part of the drug marketing plays a big role in continuing education for doctors. Big Drug makers donate a lot of money for schools to put on seminars and classes. Many schools have become dependent on that money and those programs may end if the drug makers don't sponsor them. There is also the fact that when a new drug comes out doctors should be informed about it's effects and side effects. Now, I do have my miss givings about how unbias these "educational classes" can be, while being backed by drug companies, especially with drug makers being OUTED for leaving out results from their human tests.

There is also the "free" samples. I know that many low income people rely on their doctors ability to give them "samples" of medication. But there is the argument against that.

The article also argues that "no strings attached" consulting arrangements should be banned, and that all other consulting agreements should be posted on Web sites. Doctors should refuse free drug samples, the article states, because they are "a powerful inducement for physicians and patients to rely on medications that are expensive but not more effective."
Such a refusal would also eliminate one of the principal reasons for which drug salespeople are routinely allowed to enter doctors' offices, the article states. While the article does not suggest that salespeople be refused entry into offices, it states that such visits have few useful functions.

So, I do think that there needs to be a hard look at not only how drug compnies market to doctors but also to patients. I feel there needs to be a change!

Which Fantasy/SciFi Character Are You?

2006-01-24T14:39:00.000-06:00

Galadriel

Possessing a rare combination of wisdom and humility, while serenely dominating
your environment you selflessly use your powers to care for others.

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

Galadriel is a character in the Middle-Earth universe. You can read more about
her at the Galadriel Worshippers
Army.

Via Melly @ all kinds of writing

Blog Slump

2006-01-24T11:43:00.000-06:00

I have been in such a blog slump since the holidays.

Mikal is back at school today, so maybe with a little more free time I can get over this hump.

But please keep coming back, I'll get back to my usual self soon!

Food and Health

2006-01-22T19:30:00.000-06:00

Here is some food related health news from my favorite health news site

New study gives us yet another reason to wash those salad veggies.

SLUGS MAY SPREAD E. COLI TO SALAD VEGETABLES!

"This study provides evidence that slugs can act as vectors of E. coli O157 from an environmental source to fruit or vegetables," say the researchers. "The research demonstrates that E. coli in D. reticulatum has a relatively long external and internal survival time and also shows that ability of E. coli to persist at length in excreted slug feces."

After seeing a Good Eats where he showed what comes out of store bought lettace (let's just say I think we could plant another head in all the dirt) I always soak my lettace b/f eating. So now I have another reason to wash, E. coli is mortality rate of 3 to 5 percent. And come on, let's face it, the term "Excreted slug feces" is in it's self a reason!!!!

People Who Buy Wine Have Healthier Diets Than People Who Buy Beer

Studies have shown that drinking wine is associated with lower mortality than drinking beer or spirits. Some studies have also suggested that wine drinkers have healthier diets than beer or spirits drinkers, and this may explain wine's beneficial effect on health.

They found that wine buyers bought more olives, fruit and vegetables, poultry, cooking oil, and low fat cheese, milk, and meat than beer buyers. Beer buyers bought more ready cooked dishes, sugar, cold cuts, chips, pork, butter or margarine, sausages, lamb, and soft drinks than wine buyers.

The thing that really throws me off is that the Beer Buyers bought more LAMB?? Lamb never struck me as a Billy Bob dish. I think more of the dinner party for Lamb. I myself buy a lot of lamb, but then again I'm the wine drinker.

Schizophrenia, Cat Faeces And Undercooked Meat Link - Evidence Grows

Researchers have found stronger evidence for a link between a parasite in cat faeces and undercooked meat and an increased risk of schizophrenia

Research published today in Procedings of the Royal Society B, shows how the invasion or replication of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii in rats may be inhibited by using anti-psychotic or mood stabilising drugs.

Dr Joanne Webster from Imperial College London, and lead researcher said: "Although we are certainly not saying that exposure to this parasite does definitely lead to the development of schizophrenia, this and previous studies do show there may be a link in a few individuals, providing new clues for how we treat toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia."

All the more reason to cook that meat!

Much Overeating Caused By Eating Too Many Flavors All At Once

A major cause of overeating is eating too many flavors all at once, triggering the hypothalamus in the brain to ask for more food, according to David Katz, M.D., of the Prevention Research Center and the Rudd Food Center for Food Policy Obesity at Yale University.

"We stay hungry longer the more diverse the flavors in a meal or snack," said Katz, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine. "If flavors are thoughtfully distributed, we fill up on fewer calories. This explains why, for instance, people can eat a holiday meal to the point of feeling unpleasantly full, yet still have room for dessert. No, that's not because you have a 'hollow leg!' It's because of sensory specific satiety; the hypothalamus is hard-wired to respond to flavors."

I guess they are saying we should slow down and enjoy our food. Foods such as Italian and Indian are good examples of "thematic" eating. Cooks plan meals around Homogeneous flavors. Processed foods are also a major culprit. Producers often mix flavors (sweet with salty) and as consumers we are so use to these flavors that we don't even notice. So to loss weight, tone down the flavor!

And Finally:

Esophageal Cancer And Soft Drinks Link Unfounded, In Fact Opposite May Be True

Carbonated soft drink consumption was previously suggested to be linked to the 350 percent increase of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus since the mid-1970s, but researchers at Yale School of Medicine report that the link is unfounded and that there may, in fact, be a decreased risk of this cancer for diet soda drinkers.

"Our team analyzed that data as the first direct test of the hypothesis that soft drinks might have contributed to the increase in this cancer," said Mayne. "We found that contrary to the hypothesis put forth by other researchers, carbonated soft drink consumption was inversely associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma risk, mainly attributable to diet soda, and that high intake did not increase risk of any esophageal or gastric cancer subtype in men or women."

So go ahead and drink your soda, your esophagus is safe.

Parenting, the mother of Invention.

2006-01-20T18:34:00.000-06:00

I hobbled my daughter tonight!

I have her sleeping in our "bonus room" up stairs. it has no door on it and there's no way to secure the stairway so she doesn't try and climb the stairs in the middle of the night. This has not been a problem b/c she's still in a crib.

BUT, she has discovered she can scale the crib wall and escape. I can't keep her in and I'm scared to death she's going to kill herself on the stair. SO, I hobbled her!

I took some old footed PJs that mikal has outgrown and sewed a piece of fabric between the knees. She can walk in them but she can't climb!

Score one for the MOM (so the official score is MOM 2 KIDS 298....it's just not a fair fight)

PHOTOS TO COME

God, the Pope's not on your side!

2006-01-20T16:16:00.000-06:00

The Vatican newspaper, a voice of the Roman Catholic Church, says "intelligent design" is not science and
certain American "creationists" have brought debate on the issue back to the "dogmatic" 1800s.

It was the latest in a series of interventions by Vatican officials — including the pope — on the issue that has dominated headlines in the United States.

Can I just give a pat on the back to the Vatican on this one. I am a former Catholic myself, and was a fan of John Paul. I think they are really stepping up on this one. GOOD FOR THEM!

Fortune

2006-01-18T20:24:00.000-06:00

You will find happiness and Financial Independence.

I love getting great fortunes from Chinese food. Maybe things with working for the In-laws will work out really well for me!!

I'm employed

2006-01-16T20:07:00.000-06:00

Well it's official. I am going to be employed by my In-laws come the second week in Feb. Their biller gave 30 days notice. While my BIL thinks she was just pimping them to give her a raise, they said "fine, don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

Can't buy me love

2006-01-16T20:01:00.000-06:00

While America and many other countries have traditionally measured its success by looking at numbers such as the Gross Domestic Product (previously the Gross National Product), a growing number of scholars are questioning whether this is really the best way to assess how well off we are.

"Negative events that reduce well being actually increase GDP," says A.J.
Senchack, holder of the Lucy King Brown Chair in International Business at
Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

Hurricane Katrina is a case in point. While this was a personal disaster
for hundreds of thousands of citizens, recent figures for the country's GDP
showed a robust growth of 4.1 percent due to the huge medical expenses and rebuilding costs associated with the hurricane. Many other transactions such as crime, divorce and environmental degradation have a similar impact on GDP.

So your heart ship is good for the country. The growing "wealth" our country has may just very well mean that we as Americans are much more unhappy. Well recent studies have some interesting views:

A new study of more than 65 countries published in the UK's New Scientist magazine suggests that the happiest people in the world live in Nigeria - and the least happy, in Romania.

Nigeria has the highest percentage of happy people followed by Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rico, while Russia, Armenia and Romania have the fewest.

But factors that make people happy may vary from one country to the next with personal success and self-expression being seen as the most important in the US, while in Japan, fulfilling the expectations of family and society is valued more highly.

The survey appears to confirm the old adage that money cannot buy happiness.

Olympics and drama

2006-01-14T11:54:00.000-06:00

So I'm thrilled for my husband, in his job he gets to do a lot of cool stuff, but usually doesn't get any special credit for doing it. Well he's been working with TLC in town this week for their ICE DIARIES docu-drama and they are going to give him camera and producer credits! how great is that!!

He's been following BeBe and while I don't watch the show and am not particularly interested in Ice skating, I'm going to catch the one JAN 27 2006 @ 10:00 PM That's the show that will be here in St. Louis.

Myths of parenthood part III

2006-01-14T08:26:00.000-06:00

This is part three in my Myth series and I'm tackling a big one:

MYTH:
Having children will make my husband and I closer (AKA we created a living thing together, we have even more reason to be in love)

TRUTH:
Nothing has caused more strife in our marriage then our children.

You hear it all the time, women who say that they LOVE their spouse more b/c they had a baby with them. I don't get it. I don't know if they are lying or they feel that it's "the thing to say" or if they honestly believe that.

My husband and I are very laid back people and while we don't agree on a wide variety of things, politics, food, pets to name a few, it never caused major problems in our marriage. So I was completely thrown when we started having yelling matches over, predictable I know, division of labor. What was expected of me as a stay-at-home mom and him as a working dad.

Do I love my husband more now that he's the father of my children? no, to be honest, I loved him just as much before we had kids, but now I want to throttle him on a regular basis! LOVE YOU LOTS HON, PLEASE DO A LOAD OF LAUNDRY OR AT LEAST THE DISHES!!!!

I'm not saying that this will be the same for everyone, but we have to remember that many studies have shown that the most stressful time in a marriage is after the first child is born. So I know I'm not alone!

Children's Health in the news

2006-01-12T17:53:00.000-06:00

Children's Health:

Chinese Children Better Able To Control Impulsive behavior Than Their North American Counterparts

Working with researchers from China and the U.S., Dr. Sabbagh has discovered that "executive functioning" (the ability to control our attention and behaviour) develops more rapidly in Chinese preschoolers than in North Americans. Associated with the frontal lobe of the brain, executive functioning skills allow us to focus on goals even when there are distractions.

One explanation for the cross-cultural difference may be the importance that parents in China place on their children controlling impulses and following directions, Dr. Sabbagh says. He also points to the genetic risk factor for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) that is associated with executive functioning problems. Present in 20 per cent of North American and European children, it has never been found in Chinese children.

I find this fascinating, I never knew that ADHD has never been found in Chinese children...is it purely genetic or are we looking at a real cultural difference. Is ADHD real or is it a 'label' we are throwing on our children who fail to learn impulse control.

Guidelines Needed To Help Care For Children During Emergencies - Children Under Age 5 Most At Risk

Evidence-based guidelines for the care of children in emergency situations should be developed and distributed to international relief organizations, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the World Health Organization (WHO). In a review of published literature, the researchers found that the highest mortality rates following armed conflicts, natural disasters, population displacements or famines are often in children younger than five years. The most common causes of death are diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, measles, malaria and malnutrition; these are also the major causes of death in countries with high child mortality rates. The study is published in the January 2006 issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

In major devastation children are the worse to suffer, having guidelines on how to deal with these issues would be helpful...Even more since I'm one of those doomsdayers who sees disaster on the horizon for the US, flood earthquake, hurricanes, take your pick!

High Lead Levels In Some Children's Necklaces And Zipper Pulls, Warns Health Canada

Health Canada is advising the Canadian public that children's metal necklaces and zipper pulls manufactured by Stravina Operating Company of California have been recalled. The items, sold between March 2002 and September 2005, pose a risk of lead poisoning to children if mouthed or swallowed and should be removed from children's reach.

Stravina Operating Company is recalling about six million items, which are manufactured in China. Approximately 781,000 of the recalled items were sold in Canada at discount, toy, party, grocery and drug stores for between $2 and $5. These items are no longer being sold in Canada.

The recalled necklaces are silver-coloured with individual names painted in a variety of colours. The nameplate on the necklace hangs from a 40 cm black cord. The necklace packages are marked "Personalized Necklace" and "Stravina." UPC Code 0-35203-00039-7 is on the necklace package.

The recalled zipper pulls are also silver-coloured with individual names and come in various colours. The zipper pull hangs from a silver-coloured metal clip designed to attach to a backpack, keyring, or clothing zipper. The words "Personalized Zipper Pull," "Great for Backpacks and Keyrings too" and "Stravina" are printed on the packaging, as is the UPC Code 0-35203-00038.

I really amazes me how we still end up with children's toys with lead in them!

You know research just kills me. Of all the pressing matters in the world to research we are looking at the impact of Harry Potter books on Children's injuries. BUT good news, Harry Potter my have saved your kids life:

Harry Potter Books Protect Children From Traumatic Injuries, British Medical Journal

Injuries caused by '‘craze' activities such as inline skating and microscooters have previously been reported. One modern craze is the Harry Potter series of books and films. Given the lack of horizontal velocity, height, wheels, or sharp edges associated with this particular craze, researchers at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford investigated the impact of these books on children's traumatic injuries during the peak of their use.

They reviewed all children aged 7-15 who attended their emergency department with musculoskeletal injuries over the summer weekends of 2003-5.

The launch dates of the two most recent Harry Potter books (The Order of the Phoenix and The Half-Blood Prince) were Saturday 21 June 2003 and Saturday 16 July 2005. They compared the numbers of admissions for these weekends (intervention weekends) with those for summer weekends in previous years (control weekends).

The average attendance rate during the control weekends was 67, while for the two intervention weekends, the attendance rates were 36 and 37. At no other point during the three year surveillance period was attendance that low. MetOffice data obtained for each of the weekends suggested no confounding effect of weather conditions.

"We observed a significant fall in the numbers of attendees to the emergency department on the weekends that the two most recent Harry Potter books were released," say the authors.

Both these weekends were in mid-summer with good weather, suggesting that there is a place for a committee of safety conscious, talented writers who could produce high quality books for the purpose of injury prevention.

Potential problems with this project would include an unpredictable increase in childhood obesity, rickets, and loss of cardiovascular fitness, they conclude.

moon clock

2006-01-11T18:17:00.000-06:00

unique tidal-powered Moon Clock is being hailed by scientists and anthropologists who believe this monumental timepiece could become an internationally recognised landmark.

The Aluna Project, designed by artist, Laura Williams, will be a magnificent glass and steel structure illuminated by tidal energy. Three massive concentric rings, five stories high and 40 metres across, will make a breathtaking, waterside landmark which will light up to show the movements of the moon and the sea. Light will flow slowly around the rings, each representing the Lunar Phase, the wax and wane of the moon: the Lunar Day, the rise and set of the moon, and the ebb and flow of the tide. The team behind the not-for-profit project hope the design's cutting-edge technology will remind people that the Earth is governed by ancient natural rhythms. "I would like Aluna to be a beacon of hope for a sustainable future, visible from land, sky and sea." said Laura Williams.

lesson on animal cruelty

2006-01-10T10:51:00.000-06:00

An
81-year-old Fort Sumner homeowner says he caught the mouse inside his house and
just wanted to get rid of it.
He says
he threw the creature in a pile of burning leaves near his home, but it ran back
to the house.

His last act was to seek revenge on the jerk who tried to make him mouse-b-que.

Village
Fire Chief Juan Chavez says the mouse ran to just beneath a window and the
flames spread up the window and throughout the house.
He says
all contents of the home were destroyed, but no injuries were
reported.
Via Pat

Next time go for the humane release in a wooded area very far from your house and maybe mother nature won't get so Pissed off!

I have a secret

2006-01-09T18:05:00.000-06:00

In honor of PostSecret, fellow blog readers, I have a secret(s):

I like to drink sherry, cream sherry to be precise, just like your grandmother.

I am an avid fan of Charmed. I've seen every episode and wait in anticipation for the next episode.

I love to Role play (and I'm not talking about the kinky kind Pat!). If I could fit it into my schedule I'd dust off the old DnD books and battle some orces!

Yes, that is me behind you in the minivan, not watching the road, yelling at her children. I'll try and avoid hitting you.

I have a deep seeded fear of mirrors, Eisoptrophobia. No really I do. I blame my mother and the early eighties fad of floor to ceiling mirrors, NOT RECOMMENDED FOR SMALL CHILDREN. I had an entire wall of mirrors in my bedroom growing up, now I can't touch on or look at one with the lights off or I'll have a panic attack.

Top 5 Women's Health Stories of 2005

2006-01-07T15:52:00.000-06:00

The top five women's health stories of 2005 as determined by the Society for Women's Health Research are:

1. FDA Further Delays Plan B Approval; Leading Federal Health Official Resigns in Protest

Government decisions about some women's health issues may be driven by politics, not science. That concern gained momentum with the FDA's decision to delay beyond August approval of over-the-counter sale of Plan B emergency contraception to women 16 and older raised major concerns about the agency's decision making process and its impact on women's health. Susan Wood, director of the FDA's Office of Women's Health, resigned in protest, noting that scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended by the agency's professional staff, were overruled.

2. X Chromosome Research Shows Women More Genetically Variable Than Men

Research shows women are genetically more variable than men, confirming the importance of looking for and understanding sex differences in health. A team of scientists showed in Nature magazine on March 17 that female mammals, who have two copies of the X chromosome, express more genes than males. Previous theories suggested that one of the females' X chromosomes was mostly inactive. The varying activity of genes on the X chromosome can account for not only some differences between the sexes, but also among women. As those genes are better understood, scientists may be able to prevent the onset of certain diseases tied to the X chromosome.

3. HPV Vaccine Represents Breakthrough in Fight against Cancer

A vaccine to immunize against two different types of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV-16 and HPV-18) that cause an estimated 70 percent of cervical cancer cases was 100 percent effective against persistent HPV16/18 infections in women who completed the study protocol, according to research results published in the Nov. 13 issue of Lancet. An estimated 280,000 women die from cervical cancer each year, most of them in the developing world. This and similar recent studies show the potential to eradicate the great majority of cervical cancers worldwide.

4. Aspirin Affects Women and Men Differently

Aspirin affects women and men differently when it comes to preventing heart attacks and strokes, according to results released in March from the Women's Health Study (WHS), a 10-year randomized clinical trial involving nearly 40,000 women aged 45 and older. The study shows aspirin does not significantly reduce the risk of a first heart attack for middle-aged women, as it does for men.

However, aspirin reduces the risk of stroke in women, something it does not do for men. Aspirin does lower the chances of having a heart attack in women 65 and older, which is also when the stroke-reduction benefit appears greatest. Before this study, many women took aspirin to prevent heart attacks on the advice of their doctor, based on research conducted only on men. This study underscores the importance of testing therapies on both women and men. We cannot assume that studies on men are valid for women.

5. HIV Cases in Women Increase Dramatically Compared to Men

From 1999 through 2003, the annual number of estimated AIDS diagnoses increased 15 percent among women and increased 1 percent among men, according to a June Centers for Disease Control report. This trend is cause for great alarm among women. Women develop AIDS at a lower viral level than men, and consequently, progress more quickly from HIV to AIDS. The efficiency of male-to-female infection of HIV is more than two times higher than that of female-to-male infection. Prevention and early diagnosis is the key to survival.

Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR)
1025 Connecticut Ave. NW, Ste. 701
Washington, DC 20036
United States
womenshealthresearch.org

Stress and parenting

2006-01-07T15:37:00.000-06:00

Mothers who experience stress from parenting are more likely to perceive their babies as temperamentally difficult, according to a new study by researchers at Bradley Hospital, Brown Medical School and Women Infants' Hospital.

"If mothers are highly stressed as parents, this will affect the ways that they think about and interact with their babies. This can have long term effects on how children develop and how families function," says Sheinkopf.

So I guess that means that if I reduce my stress level my children will behave more?? or Maybe I'll just not care! All kidding aside I do agree some what, I know when I was a new mom and didn't have any new mom friends I was super stressed. I was constantly stressing on how my son acted when I was first meeting new people and I really felt that my son was horrible behaved and was mortified. I've got a whole new parenting philosophy...If they aren't: Breaking something, hurting someone or bothering an adult they shouldn't, then I say let them go and I'm much happier.

Do I think my children are better behaved? Not really, but I now think they are children having fun, learning and exploring their world. More power to them!

Toyota creates air-purifying shrub

2006-01-07T07:50:00.000-06:00

The Japan Times Online:

NAGOYA (Kyodo) Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it has developed a new species of shrub that absorbs harmful substances in the air.

The Kirsch Pink, related to the Cherry Sage shrub, will be sold for 380 yen each by Toyota Roof Garden Co., a Toyota Motor subsidiary, beginning next March.

First-year sales are targeted at 10,000 plants.

The Kirsch Pink is the same as the Cherry Sage, absorbing nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and other air pollutants, but the new shrub is 1.3 times more effective, the automaker said.

The new plant, which bears pink flowers between May and November, also diminishes the urban heat-island effect 1.3 times more than the Cherry Sage, it said.

This is great! now all me need is about 9 billion of these and we will have licked that whole global warming problem!

Now that I have that problem solve lets focus on that whole death thing...

New year!

2006-01-05T22:05:00.000-06:00

As is traditon for the new years, I to have made some resolutions (I know I'm late but give me a break I just got off a 3 hour long tech support call to fix my modem who decided to take a holiday while I was gone!!)

1. Be more mindful in my parenting, as a way not only to be a better parent, but to reduce stress in our house

2. Be more contentious of the money I spend, we may have much more than others, but filling my life with stuff does not make us happy. I want to raise children who appreciate things that don't cost money and treasure the things they have.

3. Go out of my way to spend QUALITY time with each of my children seperatly. They are individuals and need to have their own relationship with me.

4. Be more aware of what I put in my body. I bend over backwards to buy organic/free range foods for my kids, but I'll hit the drive though for myself when I'm out. I need to treat myself as well as I treat my children and spouse.

5. (amended in the past few days) In light of the tragedy in WV, be more away of my personal energy consumption. Lights don't need to be on in rooms we are not in, we don't have to keep the 72 in the summer time, sun light is a good lighting source in the day. I do not need to contribute to the growing coal demands for power.

Happy new year everyone...may this year be better for you then the last!

Technical issues

2006-01-04T20:49:00.000-06:00

I'm having serious technical issues on my home computer so my blogging may be spotty for the next couple of days :(

dancing

2006-01-04T20:48:00.000-06:00

Did you do any dancing this holiday? Your friends and family may have had a peek into your genetic qualities.

Dr William Brown and colleagues at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and the University of Washington, Seattle studied 183 Jamaican men and women and found that those judged to be better dancers also happened to be more symmetrical. Symmetry leads to better muscle coordination which may give clues about a person’s genes. Symmetry also is a quality in beauty. The more symmetrical the face they higher a person is rated a being good looking.

This does not bode well for my children, the big joke in my house is the meaning of my name is "full of grace". Lets just say that my legs are often speckled with various shades of black and purple....

Telegraph, December 22, 2005

Fire, Jobs and Indiana

2006-01-01T09:13:00.000-06:00

What a week it has been! There are a ton of things happening in my world right now!

To start with, I got a call last night, my son's school caught fire!!! the classrooms were not damaged so the expect to have the school back running in three weeks are so. But I tell you it couldn't have happened at a better/worse time (depending on what happens.)

The other big news is I'm going to have a new job working from home, and being paid almost $20,000 MORE a year then I use to make when I worked full time!!

The long story is, my In-laws run a home health care business. They have been working on selling the business and retiring, but it's not working out. One of the people who wanted to buy the business now wants to go into partnership with them and expand the Business to include Pharmacy and Medical equipment. So they set up a separate business in both their son's names and all the profit will be split b/w them (ya for us...money for not doing anything!!). Well in all this their medical biller/AR person has really been doing some unethical crap. MIL wants to fire her and hey what do you know she has a daughter-in-law who has a bookkeeping background and took a medical billing and coding course a year ago.

So anyway they went to Florida for a month and are planning on "taking care" of their biller when they get back, they left my Brother-in-law in charge until they get back. Well the biller asked the girl who does payroll to cut her a check for her unused vacation (she's not going to get it b/c it's against their policy) and they think that she is going to quit come monday.

So like I said, the school thing could be good or bad. Good if I have to head to IN (I'd have to pay for the time he missed) to get a computer outfitted for my home and get a crash course in how the business runs (I've been popping in for the last year to see how things run but I'd still need to spend several days actually doing the work before I came home)

or

It really sucks because now Mikal has to miss out on almost a month of school, he's had a rough transition into school and he's just getting the swing of things.

Well things are really looking up here, hope things are going well with you.

Back!

2005-12-31T07:12:00.000-06:00

Well, I do have to say christmas was better to me than I really deserved! The MIL gave husband and I money and I got to buy (almost) everything on my list....and it wasn't a short one!

On thing that I'm loving is my Bistel Flip-it (a present from my 'children') It's not the one I wanted (I wanted a floormate) but I am more then thrilled as to how well it works!!! I don't think my floors have ever had it this good, and I have to admit it is very simple to use so I think things worked out.

So we are back...the kids made out too, so I'm in the middle of weeding out old toys to give away to charity and finding places for the new stuff, we left a ton at grandma's, in the knowledge that we'll be moving this summer over there.

I hope eveyone had a good visit from the Red man and Please be safe this new year.

One last post before I go

2005-12-22T20:48:00.000-06:00

A Friend sent me this...for all us moms out there I thought I needed to share. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Joy to all!

Dear Santa, I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled
my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold
sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the
school playground.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since
I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a
receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find
anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple,
which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but
are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the
grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of
my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint
resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that
doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a
refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide
to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy"
to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and
three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power
tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the
living room" and "Take your hands off your brother,"
because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and
can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time
to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of
eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a
Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten
the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a
vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the
house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized
crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet
under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe
trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry
off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave
crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always, MOM...!

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my
children young enough to believe in Santa.

New Solar Panels for Hybrid Cars Improve MPG

2005-12-22T19:50:00.001-06:00

If the Hybrid cars don't give you the gas mileage you wanted, now you can add solar panels.

Solatec LLC(TM) is pleased to introduce flexible, rooftop-mounted Solar Panels for Hybrid Vehicles, starting with a kit for the 2004-2006 Toyota Prius. The $2,195 kits will be available nationwide through dealer franchises.

A prototype has been operating in the Northeast for several months under mixed driving conditions. With Solatec panels installed on the roof, the prototype SolaPrius(R) averages 55 MPG city and 62 MPG highway - an overall 10 percent improvement over the pre-installation numbers.

I am hopeful that within my lifetime we will have cars that run on little or no GAS....wouldn't that be great!

Signing off

2005-12-22T14:05:00.000-06:00

Well I'm signing off for the holidays, see you NEXT Thursday.

Happy holidays!

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!

Children's Book for the "holidays"

2005-12-21T19:30:00.000-06:00

Looking for an all-purpose book that covers all the celebrations of the holiday season? Christmas Lights by Anna Grossnickle Hines uses quilts to showcase six different holidays that happen around the end and beginning of the year.

Santa Lucia
Winter Solstice
Hanukkah
Christmas
Kwanzaa
Chinese New Year

Pointer from Children’s Books at About.com.

IFILM - Viral Video: Nextel: Dance Party -

2005-12-21T11:42:00.000-06:00

a little middle of the week fluff! I hate Nextel (former customer) but love this commercial!

IFILM - Viral Video: Nextel: Dance Party -

Thanks Kathy at Kazoofus for the link!

Happy winter solstice

2005-12-21T10:27:00.000-06:00

Happy Winter Solstice!

As cold night spins into morning's thaw, may this Winter Solstice bring you moments of peace and reflection. Wishing you a wise Winter Solstice this year.

Beating my head against the wall....

2005-12-20T09:18:00.000-06:00

After some kindly ribbing from pat, I started writing again. I've given myself a modest goal of 250-500 words or 45 min a day. Now the trouble I'm having is not writing, the word flow out and I have a really good handle on what and were the story is headed, my issue is re-writes.

Every time I open the file again, I re-read the last few Paragraphs I've written to get back in the swing, but then I have an idea of another way to say it or a whole new opening scene or let's cut out this part. I find I'm going backwards. My 1500 words turned into 1200 last night after an hour of writing.

It's not that I'm not writing, it's that I can't keep from editing....grrr.

Come on girls (and guys) help me out on this one, any tips for keeping the thing going forward??

I expect an answer from you pat, it's all your fault :)

Raising your child pagan?!?

2005-12-19T17:56:00.000-06:00

We had our annual Yule openhouse for my pagan parenting group this weekend and as happens a lot with our parenting group, we started talking about how each of us were dealing with the spiritual side or our children's growth. I was floored by how many of my fellow pagan parents have decided not to raise their children as pagan, but instead teach a variety of paths, "so our child can choose their own path."

Raising kids today is hard, really hard. So, you may ask yourself why apply added pressure by raising your child pagan. You already know the stereotypes that are applied to words like pagan, wiccan and witch, why lead your child into the world with this type of disadvantage. There is also the thought that many pagans have, that raising your child pagan or any faith for that matter, prevent them from find their own path.

I disagree with all these assumptions. Raising your child pagan is the best way, as a pagan yourself; to help prepare your child for life and help them find their own path.

A spiritual foundation give children the tools they need to face life's though choices. Today our children are exposed non-stop to violence, negative influences, criticism, pessimism and fear. We can't be there all the time, but the same things that drew you to your pagan faith; love, openness, acceptance, and connection to the earth, can be there when you are not.

Paganism can also provide a community; we are after all social animals. Your child wants to feel that they are watched over and connected to the universe. They will grow up feeling like they are part of something bigger then themselves. By having a Pagan centered framework their life will gain direction and meaning. You will create a fertile ground that they can grow roots that will center and ground them for life.

Spirituality is related to emotional health. Children who have a spiritual conscience develop a sense of their own self-worth. Paganism can give kids a well from which to pull from in times of trouble. Several studies have found that children who said they were religious enjoy life more than children who said they were not religious. In addition these kids:

-think their lives are useful
-feel hopeful about their futures
-are satisfied with their lives and
-enjoy being in school

College students who scored high on a "spiritual well-being" scale, compared with their lower-scoring counterparts, exhibited healthier psychosocial profiles in areas of self-esteem, loneliness, marijuana use, alcohol use, and feelings of hopelessness. Research also suggests "religiousness is the second strongest inhibitor of ..Suicidede attempts."

We are constantly teaching our children our values already; be mindful of the Earth, respect elders, trust your intuition. Including your child in your pagan believes is the first step in helping them find their way and place in the world.

All children have this instinctive sense of marvel about their world and their place in it. They come pre-wired to be sensitive and receptive to spiritual ideas. This marvel is the key to their spirit. As adults we spend our life trying to get back to that point. Our world today conspires to remove us from our spiritual connection. But if there is a good foundation to begin with, then our children's spirit has a chance flourish.

Tell your children what you believe, and let them observe and participate in how you practice your faith. Both you and your child will grow and become more complete.

Go ahead eat this holiday

2005-12-19T10:59:00.000-06:00

OH, science, they make my life so much better. Have a guilt free holiday:

In Search of the Healing Power of Chocolate:

Several studies have looked for the health benefits of flavanols, compounds naturally occurring in cocoa, as well as in green tea, black tea, red wine, grapes and raspberries. Chocolates high in flavanols appear to have some benefit to the heart -- by improving blood flow.

COCOA & SMOKING

Study: University of California, San Francisco/Heinrich-Heine University, Germany

Publication: Journal of the American College of Cardiology

Finding: Cocoa may reverse smoking-related impairments of blood vessel function. A dozen smokers in their early 30s where given doses of specially prepared cocoa. The cocoa was found to increase nitric oxide and thus blood flow. (Nitric oxide triggers vessels' inner linings to expand.)

Caveat: Improvements were only looked for immediately after the cocoa was consumed. Are there any long-term benefits?

COCOA & BLOOD PRESSURE

Study: Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women's Hospital

Published: Hypertension
Finding: Five days of drinking a special brew of flavanol-rich cocoa seemed to activate the production of nitric oxide in study involving 27 participants. Nitric oxide causes blood vessels to relax and expand, and thus improves blood flow to the brain.

Caveat: Flavanol levels in most commercial chocolates are much lower than those used in the experiment. And to really prove flavanol-rich cocoa helps the heart, studies of larger groups of people over a longer period of time are needed.

COCOA & CHOLESTEROL

Study: Tufts/USDA/University of L'Aquila

Publication: Hypertension

Finding: Eating 3 1/2 ounces of dark chocolate daily for 15 days reduced participants' blood pressure. Levels of LDL, the so-called 'bad' cholesterol, also drop"

Christmas Brandy Good for you!

Drinking a shot of smooth full-flavoured brandy this Christmas could actually benefit your health, Monash University researchers have found.

Dr Gordon Troup from the School of Physics said that, in moderation, brandy had been shown to have supplementary medicinal health benefits - and the better quality the brandy the greater the benefit.

The key to its benefit is antioxidants contained in the brandy that come mainly from copper during the distilling process, Dr Troup said.

He said a shot (30mls) of brandy would give the equivalent antioxidant potential to the daily recommended intake of vitamin C.

Free Range Fruitcake

2005-12-18T13:09:00.000-06:00

So many people seemed to like my fruitcake, I thought I'd post the Recipe. If you are going to serve it right away you can skip the brandy if you want (like I did) but if you are going to keep it around or give it as a gift, spray it down with the brandy, it will help it keep!

The other thing about this recipe that is great, it's very free form, you can mix up the fruit, I've used Walnuts and I've done it with out nuts for my father. I have yet to meet someone who didn't like this cake!

Free Range Fruitcake
From Alton Brown

1 cup golden raisins
1 cup currants
1/2 cup sun dried cranberries
1/2 cup sun dried blueberries
1/2 cup sun dried cherries
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
Zest of one lemon, chopped coarsely
Zest of one orange, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
1 cup gold rum
1 cup sugar
5 ounces unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks)
1 cup unfiltered apple juice
4 whole cloves, ground
6 allspice berries, ground
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup toasted pecans, broken
Brandy for basting and/or spritzing

Combine dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add rum and macerate overnight, or microwave for 5 minutes to re-hydrate fruit.
Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for at least 15 minutes. (Batter can be completed up to this point, then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before completing cake.)
Heat oven to 325 degrees.
Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated, then fold in nuts. Spoon into a 10-inch non-stick loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake another 10 minutes, and check again.
Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet. Baste or spritz top with brandy and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan.
When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. Every 2 to 3 days, feel the cake and if dry, spritz with brandy. The cake's flavor will enhance considerably over the next two weeks. If you decide to give the cake as a gift, be sure to tell the recipient that they are very lucky indeed.

the War on Christmas...They have Nuclear weapons!

2005-12-16T22:10:00.000-06:00

While out surfing this evening I ran accross a clip from CNN about the "War on Christmas" debate started by Fox News. Sam Seder was on and was just hilarious! Here's the start of the show:

SEDER: Listen, as far as the war on Christmas goes, I feel like we should be waging a war on Christmas. I mean, I believe that Christmas, it's almost proven that Christmas has nuclear weapons, can be an imminent threat to this country, that they have operative ties with terrorists and I believe that we should sacrifice thousands of American lives in pursuit of this war on Christmas. And hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money.

PHILLIPS: Is it a war on Christmas, a war on Christians, a war on over-political correctness or just a lot of people with way too much time on their hands?

SEDER: I would say probably, if I was to be serious about it, too much time on their hands, but I'd like to get back to the operational ties between Santa Claus and al Qaeda.

PHILLIPS: I don't think that exists. Bob? Help me out here.

SEDER: We have intelligence, we have intelligence.

PHILLIPS: You have intel. Where exactly does your intel come from?

SEDER: Well, we have tortured an elf and it's actually how we got the same information from Al Libbi. It's exactly the same way the Bush administration got this info about the operational ties between al Qaeda and Saddam.

Now the whole clip is funny especially when Seders produces the "holiday party" invitation that Fox News sent to employees, talk about hypoctits!

I even found that Fox usues Holiday on their website...I don't hear O'Reilly screaming about that!

No, it's not a surprise that this whole "War on Christmas" thing turns out to be bogus demagoguery dreamed up by the execs over at Fox News; it is, however, fun to watch their little scheme blow up in their faces.

Oh, the Christmas spirit!

2005-12-16T19:47:00.000-06:00

So many of my fellow bloggers have reported a "lack" of christmas spirit and I think I know why.

Take for example my day:

Today I spent cleaning the house for our "Yule open house" tomorrow. I sprayed the house down with a gingerbread fabric spray and lit holiday candles, listen to christmas songs and put up my cards on my christmas card holder. All is calm, all is bright. The children are even playing nice and helping me from time to time. The christmas spirit abounds in this house.

So, after dinner, I start making the eggnog for the party. After the first batch, I decide that I want to make two, just for good measure, and come to find myself short of eggs. So in my PJs I head off to Target (hey I could not care less what the neighbors thought of my duckies).

The store is packed so I part in an open space very far away from the door, I'd rather walk then circle the parking lot twelve times. I go to cross the street to get into the store and a man pulling out of a parking space nearly hits me...now mind you I'm not walking down the middle of the aisle, I nearly had to climb onto a car to avoid his bumper!!! Another man sees the space and turns on his blinker. I wait (as does the man with the blinker) for several cars to go past. When the traffic clears up, I wave to the man with the blinker to go ahead in front of me. But no he smiles and waves me to cross the street. As I walk in front of his car another car races around the corner and parks in the space he's been waiting for! So much for kindness towards strangers!

The store is packed, I grab my cart and head to the dairy aisle. Eggs, Eggs, then I'll leave!! I get run down by a ten year old racing his 6 year old brother down the aisles, while mom is looking at books. Some college girl is sitting IN the cart talking to what must be her boy friend looking at DVD. Off in the distance I hear some mother yelling at her children that if they didn't behave santa wasn't going to bring them anything. Could that be the mother of the two dare-devil boys that nearly knocked me down???

So off to the check out with my eggs. I get to stand in line for what seems like forever, behind people with their carts stack up tall. "Wasn't this on sale, it was under a sale sign?" "I need a price check!" "Can you wait a minute here comes my husband with a few more things." "Would you like to use your Target Visa?"

All I want is my eggs so I can get back to MY holiday spirit. I get back home and finish the eggnog up and make a big cup of coffee.

When I was younger, I couldn't wait to go to the mall and see the lights, the people shopping, the christmas MUZAK, grab a coffee and hang with my friends. As an adult I find I have to create my own christmas haven. The holidays don't bring mystery, magic and anticipation for me, the bring a long list of To Dos and a delicate balancing act with wanting to give and keeping from going in debt.

So, now here I am. I'm still in my PJs, drinking my coffee now, munching on a piece of fruit cake I made two days ago, listening to my holiday songs. I have made my own little magical retreat in my home and this is were I gather my holiday spirit before venturing out into the chaos!

To game or not to game...

2005-12-15T14:13:00.000-06:00

so I'm having this serious debate with myself, should I buy a V-Smile for Mikal's birthday or not....

Mikal has shown interest in video games, he wants to play them at the stores and on our trips to IN we stop at a McDonalds that has a spiderman video. But do I really want to go there??

He'll be four in Feburary and I usually try and buy his "big" gift for his birthday during or just after christmas (sales you know). I have picked up a v-smile and put it down half a dozen times. So what do you think, should I try and stay away from the whole gaming system as long as I can?

Does anyone have one and what do you think??

vsmile

new winter theme

2005-12-15T14:05:00.000-06:00

let me know how it works for you and what you think!

"Educational" videos good for toddlers?

2005-12-14T19:12:00.000-06:00

The Kaiser Family foundation put out a report examining the marketing claims and parental guidelines of 29 different videos, DVDs, computer software products and video games targeted at children 6 years old and younger. The report specifically said it was not 'designed to assess the quality or effectiveness' of the products.

The companies say that these videos will help your child's cognitive development, but these claims are antidotel. The companies depend on testimonial from their customers.

Many parents say the videos are working because their children are fascinated with them and will watch the video all the way through, riveted to the TV. The videos depend on the orienting reflex, the hey look something new, to hold babies attention. By flashing new and shiny things on the screen every few seconds, the child's natural reflex to examine the "new" thing kicks in.

The report suggested that a key factor is how the products are used. It cited a statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics on the importance of 'direct interactions with parents and other caregivers for healthy brain growth and the development of appropriate social, emotional and cognitive skills.'

Some products have "parallel" teaching curricula and products so they can bee used to educate, but it's not the way they are being used. Most of the 11 DVDs examined "had an option of allowing the disc to be played continuously, looping back to the beginning automatically- something seemingly designed to facilitate repeated independent viewing rather than parent-child co-viewing,"

Labeling these videos as educational is a streach. And because of studies that link high video exposure to attention problems, researchers and the journal Pediatrics suggest using them with kids under age 2 might do harm rather than good.

In the spirit of discloser, I have used these products. We own several baby einstein and brainy baby spanish. I uses these videos on our drives to IN that we make about seven times a year or anytime we are driving for more than an hour. I like the videos better than TV, and try to watch them with the kids so I know what's going on when we are driving. I do have a ton of concern about letting my little guys watch TV, but some time it's better than leaving them on the side of the road or locking them in the closet when mommy's sick. So I think as parents we pick and choose.

Visions of sugarplums

2005-12-14T14:05:00.000-06:00

This is my all time favorite christmas story. It reminds me that I don't have to be a evangelical christian to enjoy the holiday, and believe in Santa! (note: it is very long so settle in if you are going ot read it.)

VISIONS OF SUGARPLUMS
by Margaret Morrison

Five minutes before the Winter Solstice circle was scheduled to begin,
my mother called. Since I'm the only one in our coven who doesn't
run on Pagan Standard Time, I took the call. Half the people hadn't
arrived, and those who had wouldn't settle down to business for at
least twenty minutes.

"Merry Christmas, Frannie."

"Hi, Mom. I don't do Christmas."

"Maybe not--but I do, so I'll say it." she told me in her sassy voice,
kind of sweet and vinegary at the same time. "If I can respect your
freedom of religion, you can respect my freedom of speech."

I grinned and rolled my eyes. "And the score is Mom - one, Fran -
nothing. But I love you, anyway."

People were bustling around in the next room, setting up the altar,
decking the halls with what I considered excessive amounts of holly
and ivy, and singing something like, "O Solstice Tree."

"It sounds like a...holiday party." Mom said.

"We're doing Winter Solstice tonight."

"Oh. That's sort of like your version of Christmas, right?"

I wanted to snap back that Christmas was the Christian version of
Solstice, but I held back.

"We celebrate the return of the sun. It's a lot quieter than
Christmas. No shopping sprees, no pine needles and tinsel on the
floor, and it doesn't wipe me out. I remember how you had always
worked yourself to a frazzle by December 26."

"Oh honey, I loved doing all that stuff. I wouldn't trade those
memories for all the spare time in the world. I wish you and Jack
would loosen up a little for the baby's sake. When you were little,
you enjoyed Easter bunnies and trick-or-treating and Christmas things.
Since you've gotten into this Wicca religion, you sound a lot like
Aunt Betty the year she was a Jehovah's Witness."

I laughed nervously. "Yeah. How is Aunt Betty?"

"Fine. She's into the Celestine Prophecy now, and she seems quite
happy. Y'know," she went on, "Aunt Betty always said the Jehovah's
Witnesses said those holiday things were pagan. So I don't see why
you've given them up."

"Uh, they've been commercialized and polluted beyond recognition.
We're into very simple, quiet celebrations."

"Well," she said dubiously, "as long as you're happy."

Sometimes long distance is better than being there, 'cause your mother
can't give you the look that makes you agree with everything she says.
Jack rescued me by interrupting.

"Hi, Ma." he called to the phone as he waved a beribboned sprig of
mistletoe over my head. Then he kissed me, one of those quick noisy
ones. I frowned at him.

"Druidic tradition, Fran. Swear to Goddess."

"Of course it is. Did the Druids use plastic berries?"

"Always. We'll be needing you in about five minutes."

"Okay. Gotta go, Mom. Love you."

We had a nice, serene kind of Solstice Circle. No jingling bells or
filked-out Christmas Carols. Soon after the last coven member left,
Jack was ready to pack it in.

"The baby's nestled all snug in her bed," he said with a yawn, "I
think I'll go settle in for a long winter's nap."

I heaved a martyred sigh. He grinned unrepentantly, kissed me, called
me a grinch, and went to bed. I stayed up and puttered around the
house, trying to unwind. I sifted through the day's mail, ditched the
flyers urging us to purchase all the Seasonal Joy we could afford or
charge. I opened the card from his parents. Another sermonette: a
manger scene and a bible verse, with a handwritten note expressing his
mother's fervent hope that God's love and Christmas spirit would fill
our hearts in this blessed season. She means well, really. I amused
myself by picking out every pagan element I could find in the card.
When the mail had been sorted, I got up and started turning our ritual
room back into a living room.

As if the greeting card had carried a virus, I found myself humming
Christmas carols. I turned on the classic rock station, but they were
playing that Lennon-Ono Christmas song. I switched stations. The
weatherman assured me that there was only a twenty percent chance of
snow. Then, by Loki, the deejay let Bruce Springsteen insult my ears
crooning, "yah better watch out, yah better not pout." I tried the
Oldies station. Elvis lives, and he does Christmas songs. Okay,
fine. We'll do classical--no, we won't. They're playing Handel's
Messiah. Maybe the community radio station would have something
secular humanist. "Ahora, escucharemos a Jose Feliciano canta `Feliz
Navidad'." I was getting annoyed. The radio doesn't usually get this
saturated with holiday mush until the twenty-fourth. "This is too
weird." I said to the radio, "Cut that crap out." The country station
had some Kenny Rogers Christmas tune, the first rock station had gone
from John and Yoko's Christmas song to Simon and Garfunkel's "Silent
Night," and the other rock station still had Springsteen reliving his
childhood.

"--I'm tellin' you why. SANTA Claus is comin' to town!" he bellowed.

I was about to pick out a nice secular CD when there was a knock at
the door.

Now, it could have been a coven member who'd forgotten something. It
could have been someone with car trouble. It could have been any
number of things, but it certainly couldn't have been a stout guy in a
red suit--snowy beard, rosy cheeks, and all--backed by eight reindeer
and a sleigh. I blinked, wondered crazily where Rudolph was, and
blinked again. There were nine reindeer.

Our twenty-percent chance of snow had frosted the dead grass and was
continuing to float down in fat flakes.

"Hi, Frannie." he said warmly, "I've missed you."

"I'm stone cold sober, and you don't exist."

He looked at me with a mixture of sorrow and compassion and sighed
heavily. "That's why I miss you, Frannie. Can I come in? We need to
talk."

I couldn't quite bring myself to slam the door on this vision,
hallucination, or whatever. So I let him in, because that made more
sense then letting all the cold air in while I argued with someone
who wasn't there. As he stepped in, a thought crossed my mind about
various entities needing an invitation to get in houses.He flashed me
a smile that would melt the polar caps.

"Don't you miss Christmas, Frannie?"

"No." I said flatly, "Apparently you don't see me when I'm sleeping
and waking these days. I haven't been Christian for years."

"Oh, now don't let that stop you. We both know this holiday's older
than that. Yule trees and Saturnalia and here-comes-the-sun,
doodoodendoodoo."

I raised an eyebrow at the Beatles reference, then gave him my
standard sermonette on the appropriation and adulteration that made
Christmas no longer a Pagan holiday. I had done my homework. I
listed centuries, I named names--St. Nicholas among them. "In the
twentieth century version," I assured him, "Christmas is two parts
crass commercialism mixed with one part blind faith in a religion I
rejected years ago." I gave him my best lines, the ones that had
convinced my coven to abstain from Christmasy cliches. My
hallucination sat in Jack's favorite chair, nodding patiently at me.

"And you," I added nastily, "come here talking about ancient customs
when you--in your current form--were invented in the nineteenth
century by, um...Clement C. Moore."

He laughed, a rolling, belly-deep chuckle unlike any department-store
Santa I'd ever heard. "Of course I change my form now and then to suit
fashion. Don't you? And does that stop you from being yourself?" He
said, and asked me if I remembered Real Magic, by Isaac Bonewits.

I gaped at him for a moment, then caught myself. "This is like
`Labyrinth', right? I'm having a dream that pretends to be real, but
is only made from pieces of things in my memory. You don't look a
thing like David Bowie."

"Bonewits has this Switchboard Theory." Santa went on amiably, "The
energy you put into your beliefs influences the real existence of the
archetypal--oh, let me put it simpler: `in the beginning, Man created
God'. Ian Anderson." He lit a long-stemmed pipe. The tobacco had a
mild and somehow Christmasy smell, and every puff sent up a wreath of
smoke. "I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than Bonewits tells
it, but that's close enough for mortals. Are you with me so far?"

"Oh, sure." I lied as unconvincingly as possible.

Santa sighed heavily. "When's the last time you left out milk and
cookies for me?"

"When I figured out my parents were eating them."

"Frannie, Frannie. Remember pinda balls, from Hinduism?"

"Rice balls left as offerings for ancestors and gods."

"Do Hindus really believe that the ancestors and gods eat pinda balls?"

"All right, y'got me there. They say that spirits consume the
spiritual essence, then mortals can have what's left."

"Mm-hm." Santa smiled at me compassionately through his snowy beard.

I rallied quickly. "What about the toys? I know for a fact they
aren't made by you and a bunch of non-union elves."

"Oh, that's quite true. Manufacturing physical objects out of magical
energy is terribly expensive and breaks several laws of Nature--She
only allows us to do that on special occasions. It certainly
couldn't be done globally and annually. Now, the missus and the elves
and I really do have a shop at the North Pole. Not the sort of thing
the Air Force would ever find. What we make up there is what makes
this time a holiday, no matter what religion it's called."

"Don't tell me," I said, rolling my eyes, "you make the sun come back."

"Oh my, no. The solar cycle stuff, the Reason For The Season, isn't
my department. My part is making it a holiday. We make a mild,
non-addictive psychedelic thing called Christmas spirit. Try some."

He dipped his fingers in a pocket and tossed red-gold-green-silver
glitter at me. I could have ducked. I don't know why I didn't.

It smelled like snow, and pine needles, and cedar chips in the
fireplace. It smelled like fruitcake, like roast turkey, like that
foamy white stuff you spray on the window with stencils. It felt like
a crisp wind, Grandma's hugs, fuzzy new mittens, pine needles
scrunching under my slippers. I saw twinkly lights, mistletoe in the
doorway, smiling faces from years gone by. Several Christmas carols
played almost simultaneously in a kind of medley.

I fought my way back to my living room and glared sternly at the
hallucination in Jack's chair.

"Fun stuff. Does the DEA know about this?"

"Oh, Frannie. Why are you such a hard case? I told you it's
non-addictive and has no harmful side effects. Would Santa Claus lie
to you?"

I opened my mouth and closed it again. We looked at each other a while.

"Can I have some more of that glittery stuff?"

"Mmmm. I think you need something stronger. Try a sugarplum."

I tasted rum ball. Peppermint. Those hard candies with the picture
all the way through. Mama's favorite fudge. A chorus line of
Christmas candies danced through my mouth. The Swedish Angel Chimes,
run on candle power, say tingatingatingating. Mama, with a funny
smile, promised to give Santa my letter. Greeting cards taped on the
refrigerator door. We rode through the tree farm on a straw-filled
trailer pulled by a red and green tractor, looking for a perfect
pine.

It was so big, Daddy had to cut a bit off so the star wouldn't scrape
the ceiling. Lights, ornaments, tinsel. Daddy lifted me up to the
mantle to hang my stocking. My dolls stayed up to see Santa Claus,
and in the morning they all had new clothes. Grandma carried in a
platter with the world's biggest turkey, and I got the drumstick.
Joey's Christmas puppy chased my Christmas kitten up the
tree and it would have fallen over but Daddy held it while Mama got
the kitten out. Daddy said every bad word there was but he kept
laughing anyway. I sneaked my favorite plastic horse into the nativity
scene, between the camels and the donkey. I came back to reality
slowly, with a silly smile on my face and a tickly feeling behind my
eyes like they wanted to cry. The phrase "visions of sugarplums" took
on a whole new meaning.

"How long has it been," Santa asked, "since you played with a nativity
set?-"

"But it symbolizes--"

"The winter-born king. The sacred Mother and her sun-child. Got a
problem with that? You could recorate it with pentagrams if you like,
they'll look fine. As for the Christianization, I've heard who you
invoke at Imbolc."

"But Bridgid was a Goddess for centuries before the Catholic
Church-oh." I crossed my arms and tried to glare at him, but failed.

"You're a sneaky old elf, y'know?"

"The term is `jolly old elf.' Care for another sugarplum?"

I did.

I tasted gingerbread. My first nip of eggnog the way the grown-ups
drink it. Fresh sugar cookies, shaped like trees and decked with
colored frosting. Dad had been laid off, but we managed a lot of
cheer. They told us Christmas would be "slim pickings." Joey and I
smiled bravely when Mama brought home that spindly spruce. We loaded
down our "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" with every light and ornament
it could hold. Popcorn and cranberry strings for the outdoor trees.
Mistletoe in the hall: plastic mistletoe, real kisses.

Joey and I snipped and glued and stitched and painted treasures to
give as presents. We agonized over our "Santa" letters...by now we
knew where the goodies came from, and we tried to compromise between
what we longed for and what we thought they could afford. Every day
we hoped the factory would reopen. When Joey's dog ate my mitten, I
wasn't brave. I knew that meant I'd get mittens for Christmas, and one
less toy. I cried. On December twenty-fifth we opened our presents
ve-ery slo-wly, drawing out the experience. We made a show of cheer
over our socks and shirts and meager haul of toys. I got red mittens.
We could tell Mama and Daddy were proud of us for being so brave,
because they were grinning like crazy.

"Go out to the garage for apples." Mama told us, "We'll have apple
pancakes."

I don't remember having the pancakes. There was a dollhouse in the
garage. No mass-produced aluminum thing but a homemade plywood
dollhouse with wall-papered walls and real curtains and thread-spool
chairs. My dolls were inside, with newly sewn clothes. Joey was on
his knees in front of a plywood barn with hay in the loft. His old
farm implements had new paint. Our plastic animals were corralled in
popsicle stick fences. The garage smelled like apples and hay, the
cement was bone-chilling under my slippers, and I was crying.

My knees were drawn up to my chest, arms wrapped around them. My chest
felt tight, like ice cracking in sunshine. Santa offered me a huge
white handkerchief. When all the ice in my chest had melted, he
cleared his throat. He was pretty misty-eyed, too.

"Want to come sit on my lap and tell me what you want for Christmas?"

"You've already given it to me." But I sat on his lap anyway, and
kissed his rosy cheek until he did his famous laugh.

"I'd better go now, Frannie. I have other stops to make, and you have
work to do."

"Right. I'd better pop the corn tonight, it strings best when it's
stale." I let him out the door. The reindeer were pawing impatiently
at the moon-kissed new-fallen snow. I'd swear Rudolph winked at me.

"Don't forget the milk and cookies."

"Right. Uh, December twenty-fourth, or Solstice, or what?"

He shrugged. "Whatever night you expect me, I'll be there. Eh, don't
wait up. Visits like this are tightly rationed. Laws of Nature,
y'know, and She's strict with them."

"Gotcha. Thanks, Santa." I kissed his cheek again. "Happy Holidays."

The phrase had a nice, non-denominational ring to it. I thought I'd
call my parents and in-laws soon and try it out on them. Santa laid
his finger aside of his nose and nodded.

"Blessed be, Frannie."

The sleigh soared up, and Santa really did exclaim something. It
sounded like old German. Smart-aleck elf. When I closed the door, the
radio was playing Jethro Tull's "Solstice Bells."

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Where would Jesus Shop?

2005-12-13T10:47:00.000-06:00

Walmart is under attack this holiday season, because of it's values. New commercials are trying to appeal, not to outrage, but to you ethics.

Sixty-five religious leaders have joined union activists in asserting that the nation's largest retail chain should "change for the better" this holiday season, a move one union watchdog called a "cynical ploy" intended to "tarnish Wal-Mart's name in time for Christmas."

The religous and community leaders signed a joint letter to CEO, Leo Scott, that stated:

"The holiday season is a time to honor and remember the virtues of hope, love, joy, sharing, sacrifice and faith.
"During this holy season, we must ask ourselves - at what moral price do we accept the sins of exploitation and greed? Sins, it is sad to say, which are exemplified by one of America's largest and richest corporations, Wal-Mart."
"Jesus would not embrace Wal-Mart's values of greed and profits at any cost, particularly when children suffer as a result of those misguided values.
"Those of us who are Jewish, Muslim or Buddhist also have scriptures that remind us that God is just and God's servants must practice justice in all of our words and deeds," the letter continued.
"As we prepare to celebrate our own holiday traditions, we also ask ourselves: Is it right to shop at Wal-Mart? Would our God want us to support Wal-Mart's values and actions with our dollars?
"It is within your power to become a truly responsible, ethical and righteous company," the letter concluded. "In the end, there is no better present Wal-Mart could give to its workers, their families and America than to change for the better this holiday season."

According to CBS News, Walmart's respons:

Wal-Mart accused the group of using union dues to exploit religion and said it would give nearly $200 million in cash contributions to charities this year.

Wake up Walmart has launched holiday comercials appealing to the Our Morals "Would you shop at walmart if you knew..." and "Are walmart values, your family values? This holiday season your family deserves better."

Musings of a crunchy, domestic goddess has a great post called "Walmart and what's wrong with our thinking"

These days we are all about patriotism and pride in being Americans. The cars in the Walmart parking lot were littered with yellow and American flag ribbons. "Support our troops." "God Bless America." It seemed like an oxymoron to me! How American and patriotic is it to shop at a store that forces American-owned companies out of business in favor of sweatshop labor in China?

And If you have not yet seen the Jibjab movie about "big box mart" it is very funny
big box mart

Legacy of a Gang Killer

2005-12-12T14:34:00.000-06:00

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has denied clemency for convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams.

I try and stay away from the media circus and try and find the "left out" news stories, but with the impending execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams at midnight tonight I have had a few thought on my mind.

If you don't know who Mr. Williams, he was the co-founder of the Crips street gang, based out of Compton, California. The Crips are are know to be the most violent street gangs in our nation right now, while personally I don't think they rival some of the gangs that roamed the streets in New York at the turn of the century. They and the Blood street gang held Compton in the fist of violence for decades. You can find Crips "members" all across the country.

He left a trail of blood, pain and death from his youth in this gang, and is due to die for these crimes tonight. He is personally responsible (in the eyes of the law) for fourdeaths, but the blood of many, many others are on his hands.

But he has tried to make up for this actions; He has denounced the Crips, He has dedicated himself to educate young people as to the true nature of gang violence, He has written books for teens denouncing gangs (on that, he receives no money for having written the Tookie Speaks Out series and Life in Prison. He is donating proceeds to several non-profit organizations, including Mothers Against Gang Wars, located in South Central Los Angeles, California.).

He has tried to make up for what he has done, for which he deserves credit.

I think this case really comes down to the core of the questions we need to ask about our criminal justice system. Is it for Punishment, Correction of Crimes against society, or Rehabilitation?

In two of the three cases, I believe that Mr Williams and our nation is being served by our justice system. He seems to be rehabilitated and has, and is, working to correct the damage he has caused, but has he been punished enough for the four (and countless unpunished) deaths he caused?

I am against the death penalty, and I can say that with having a family member brutally murdered by her boyfriend. I think the death penalty has major faults, the most glaring is that is non-reversible! The cost alone (the countless appeals, which are necessary to help prevent mistakes) should be enough to put a fair many off the death penalty!

But what ever comes of this case, I hope we really take time to think about what we want out of our justice system. Let's reexamine how we treat our prisoners, and our victims, and maybe Mr. Williams can leave another legacy behind!

tookie williams

HAPPY CHRISTMAS KWANZAA HANUKKAH SOLSTICE WHATEVER

2005-12-08T10:27:00.000-06:00

Commercialize Christmas, or else - Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune: "The American Family Association is leading a boycott of the chain store Target for not using the words 'Merry Christmas' in its advertising. (Target denies it has an anti-Merry-Christmas policy.) The Catholic League boycotted Wal-Mart in part over the way its Web site treated searches for 'Christmas.' Bill O'Reilly, the Fox network anchor who last year started a 'Christmas Under Siege' campaign, has a chart on his Web site of stores that use the phrase 'Happy Holidays,' along with a poll that asks, 'Will you shop at stores that do not say 'Merry Christmas'?""

I find this all ridiculous! To be upset that stores and even school district are going away from singling out one religious tradition in order to make everyone feel welcome, give me a break!!

Check out their black list at http://www.afa.net/christmasban.asp

I just think I'll sign all my YULE cards "Merry Chrismahanukwanzakah Solstice" I say we make that a brand new holiday!! You know christians don't have the market on Winter holidays!

So Chrismahanukwanzakah Solstice to you all!

Great new toys for kids

2005-12-08T08:15:00.000-06:00

Well Bush is at it again! He now has a line of baby toys, so now your child can grow up and be just like Bush!

Baby Bush Toys | Brain Food For the Average Child

It's funny that the public has elected this man twice, but still the popular joke is that Bush is an idiot!

Eat, Drink, Be Merry!

2005-12-07T15:13:00.000-06:00

As we are in the center of the holidays, I wanted to share some of my Favorite sweets:

Christmas Stollen

A German Christmas tradition, this sweet yeast bread is packed with raisins, currants, citrus and tart cherries. A ribbon of marzipan lurks invitingly within. Yummy, Yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm milk (110
degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 large egg
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/3 cup currants
1/3 cup sultana raisins
1/3 cup red candied cherries,quartered
2/3 cup diced candied citron
6 ounces marzipan
1 tablespoon confectioners'sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the egg, white sugar, salt, butter, and 2 cups bread flour; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has begun to pull together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead in the currants, raisins, dried cherries, and citrus peel. Continue kneading until smooth, about 8 minutes.

3. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

4. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the marzipan into a rope and place it in the center of the dough. Fold the dough over to cover it; pinch the seams together to seal. Place the loaf, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow loaf to cool on a wire rack. Dust the cooled loaf with confectioners' sugar, and sprinkle with the cinnamon.

Plum Bread

This is called a bread, but tastes more like a cake. I make this mostly during the holidays. The spices in this cake just lend themselves to eggnog and Christmas smells.
Recipe will make: 4 small loaves, or 2 medium loaves, or 1 large loaf, or 1 bundt cake.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 (4 ounce) jars plum baby
food
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon red food coloring
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, mix together vegetable oil, white sugar, eggs, baby food, and food coloring.

2. In separate bowl, mix together flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda and nuts.

3. Mix wet and dry ingredients together.

4. Place in greased and floured bundt pan, (you can also use cooking spray).

5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50-60 minutes or until it tests done.

6. Remove from oven to cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove and place on cooling rack.

7. While cooling, combine confectioners' sugar and lemon juice.

8. Brush over top while cake is still hot.

Bill Nicholson's Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding with Butter Rum Sauce

For the Glutton in us all~~

2 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
2 (4.5-ounce) cans fruit cocktail (undrained)
2 eggs, beaten
1 (9-ounce) box raisins
1 pinch salt
1 or 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Butter Rum Sauce, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cube donuts into a large bowl. Pour other ingredients on top of donuts and let soak for a few minutes. Mix all ingredients together until donuts have soaked up the liquid as much as possible.

Bake for about 1 hour until center has jelled. Top with Butter Rum Sauce.

Butter Rum Sauce:
1 stick butter
1 pound box confectioners' sugar
Rum, to taste

Melt butter and slowly stir in confectioners' sugar. Add rum and heat until bubbly. Pour over each serving of Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding.

Or you can make it "breakfast" with an Espresso Sauce!!

Chocolate Espresso Sauce
Ingredients

1/4 c espresso beans
1 c heavy cream
1/2 c granulated sugar
6 oz bittersweet chocolate;
-coarsely chopped
2 tb unsalted butter
1 ts vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place the espresso beans on a baking sheet and
roast for 5-10 minutes, just until you can begin to smell their aroma.
Remove beans and allow to cool. Place in a coffee grinder and grind
coarsely. Place the beans in a small sauce pan with the heavy cream and
bring to a boil, remove from heat and let sit for 30 minutes.

Strain the heavy cream through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Return the
infused cream to the saucepan with the sugar and bring to a boil. Remove
from heat and add chocolate and butter and vanilla and stir until smooth.
Cover and keep warm until ready to use.

And how better to top off you holiday cake or bread then with EGGNOG!

Eggnog

4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pint whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 egg whites*

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Add the milk, cream, bourbon and nutmeg and stir to combine.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat to soft peaks. With the mixer still running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
Whisk the egg whites into the mixture. Chill and serve.

Cook's Note: For cooked eggnog, follow procedure below.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, over high heat, combine the milk, heavy cream and nutmeg and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and gradually temper the hot mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Then return everything to the pot and cook until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F. Remove from the heat, stir in the bourbon, pour into a medium mixing bowl, and set in the refrigerator to chill.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. With the mixer running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Whisk the egg whites into the chilled mixture.

Incredibles on ice

2005-12-06T09:25:00.000-06:00

So, if you don't have kids or do not to feel the need to take your children to "kids" shows, consider yourself blessed.

Saturday was my first exposure to the kids "live theater" genera, and it left a lot to be desired. And to make matters even worse, my children...both my children, were absolute angles and loved every minute of the two hour show. My children, that right, the ones that won't sit through a meal with out a fight breaking out, sat with not so much as a peep, riveted to what was going on down on the ice.

I'm not a big ice skating fan, and the "plot" of the event was really, really lame (incredibles visiting Disneyland) , the lip syncing was horrid and the costumes were even worse...the wigs look like something my cat hacked up.

Now, I am thrilled that my kids had a good time. The only reason why we booked this trip was we had pimped Disneyland to Mikal all summer long. Our Christmas was going to be a trip to Disneyland, but alas grandma and grandpa couldn't make it so we decided to hold off another year.

But little kids have long memories, so we decided that maybe a trip to Disney on ice might "fool" him..."There you saw Mickey, told you we'd go to Disneyland" I know, bad mommy to fool my little one, but hey it worked!!

So back to the show...My MIL now feels she needs to buy tickets to every kids show coming through the area b/c the kids had such a good time. So now I have to look forward to seeing Dora the explorer, the wiggles, Blues Clues, and any number of other horrible kids shows.

Someone please shoot me.....

Childhood Cancer Can Be Cured If Detected Early

2005-12-06T09:18:00.000-06:00

Cancer is the second highest cause of death in children between the ages of one to fourteen. While statistics show that over 160,000 children worldwide are newly diagnosed with cancer each year, the exact number of new cases each year is not known as cancer registers do not exist in many countries. Significant advances have been made in diagnosis and therapy during the past four decades and the good news is that childhood cancer can largely be cured if detected sufficiently early. Yet children with cancer who live in developing countries have less than a 50 per cent survival rate, as opposed to 80 per cent for children living in developed countries.

The International Union Against Cancer (UICC), a Geneva based NGO, and its members of cancer-fighting organisations in over 80 countries, are dedicating World Cancer Day 2006 to childhood cancer. Under the slogan, 'My Child Matters', World Cancer Day will take place on Saturday 4 February 2006 and focus on early detection and equal access to treatment, as well as celebrating the lives of all children around the world in the fight against childhood cancer.

Here is a great list from a wonderful wedsite on how to spot cancer early:

Continued, unexplained weight loss
Headaches, often with early morning vomiting
Increased swelling or persistent pain in bones, joints, back, or legs
Lump or mass, especially in the abdomen, neck, chest, pelvis, or armpits
Development of excessive bruising, bleeding, or rash

Constant infections
A whitish color behind the pupil
Nausea which persists or vomiting without nausea
Constant tiredness or noticeable paleness
Eye or vision changes which occur suddenly and persist
Recurrent or persistent fevers of unknown origin

disney on ice

2005-12-01T08:10:00.000-06:00

off to the farm to see disney on Ice, long story will tell when we get back.

bye
gina

Target, in the cross hairs of Planned parenthood

2005-11-30T10:18:00.000-06:00

I'm a huge fan of Target. It's one of my favorite retail stores to visit. I though I needed to say this before I continued, just in fairness.

On September 30, 2005, a pharmacist at a Target store in Fenton, MO, denied a 26-year old woman emergency contraception. Now this is in my own back yard, and Pharmacies all over my state are not only denying emergency Contraception (Plan-B) but also regular birth control pills to women. But, I'm a bit perplexed on why Target is being singles out, for such a massive media smearing when it comes to their pharmacies.

I have personally sent a letter stating my dissatisfaction with their policies, but over all I do find that their policies to be better than most.

This is a letter sent to SaveROE.com on Target's policies:

In our ongoing effort to provide great service to our guests, Target consistently ensures that prescriptions for the emergency contraceptive Plan B are filled. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also requires us to accommodate our team members' sincerely held religious beliefs.

In the rare event that a pharmacist's beliefs conflict with filling a guest's prescription for the emergency contraceptive Plan B, our policy requires our pharmacists to take responsibility for ensuring that the guest's prescription is filled in a timely and respectful manner, either by another Target pharmacist or a different pharmacy.

The emergency contraceptive Plan B is the only medication for which this policy applies.

Under no circumstances can the pharmacist prevent the prescription from being filled, make discourteous or judgmental remarks, or discuss his or her religious beliefs with the guest.

Target abides by all state and local laws and, in the event that other laws conflict with our policy, we follow the law.

We're surprised and disappointed by Planned Parenthood's negative campaign. We've been talking with Planned Parenthood to clarify our policy and reinforce our commitment to ensuring that our guests' prescriptions for the emergency contraceptive
Plan B are filled.

Our policy is similar to that of many other retailers and follows the recommendations of the American Pharmacists Association. That's why it's unclear why Target is being singled out.

We're committed to meeting the needs of our female guests and will continue to deliver upon that commitment.

It's funny Wal-Mart refuse to stock emergency contraception at all. Walgreens allows pharmacists to opt-out if they choose. So, even if a Walgreens is considered 'safe' because they stock Plan B, ER's have to call ahead of sending someone with a prescription to ensure there is a pharmacist on duty who will fill it. Even with that, they've had a couple of instances of being told the pharmacist will fill the prescription, then the patient reports arriving at that Walgreens to get a lecture and no Plan B. I don't know of any pharmacies that compel their pharmacists to dispense Plan B against their wishes.

In addition, Target also swings to the other end:

At the same time, Target also accommodates its pharmacists at the other end of the spectrum. For example, its pharmacy at the Quarry Shopping Center in northeast Minneapolis has a special arrangement with the University of Minnesota Health Service. Any woman or student can walk in 24 hours a day and ask for the emergency contraception pills, without having to see a doctor first. The pharmacist will call in the request to the health service's hot line, which provides a prescription for the woman over the phone.

So, YES, I agree, Target should tell their employees that as long as they have a legal RX, that they are required to fill it...But, I do think that Target is trying to make sure costumers are treated well (Under no circumstances can the pharmacist prevent the prescription from being filled, make discourteous or judgmental remarks, or discuss his or her religious beliefs with the guest.) and makes efforts to insure the RX is filled (our policy requires our pharmacists to take responsibility for ensuring that the guest's prescription is filled in a timely and respectful manner, either by another Target pharmacist or a different pharmacy) even if it's not by them.

So with that being said, I really don't get why Target is being singled out for this massive on slaught, when there are other companies who are treating women far worse!

target, plan-b, Pill, contraceptive

2005-11-30T09:49:00.000-06:00

How likely are you to take home a "less desirable" person from a bar? Well it's all in the math:

An = number of units of alcohol consumed

S = smokiness of the room (graded from 0-10, where 0 clear air; 10 extremely smoky)

L = luminance of 'person of interest' (candelas per square metre; typically 1 pitch black; 150 as seen in normal room lighting)

Vo = Snellen visual acuity (6/6 normal; 6/12 just meets driving standard)

d = distance from 'person of interest' (metres; 0.5 to 3 metres)

After years of painstaking research and money (that could be spent on real medical research)...Researchers at Manchester University say while beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder, the amount of alcohol consumed is not the only factor.

Additional factors include the level of light in the pub or club, the drinker's own eyesight and the room's smokiness.

The distance between two people is also a factor.

What does this mean?

"For example, someone with normal vision, who has consumed five pints of beer and views a person 1.5 metres away in a fairly smoky and poorly lit room, will score 55, which means they would suffer from a moderate beer goggle effect."

So girls, be sure you do the math before you give out your number!

Doing a happy dance!!

2005-11-30T09:44:00.000-06:00

Firefox 1.5 is out now...I'm downloading it now.

If you have not yet, go run and try firefox, it is hands down the best browser out there!!!

Cesarean in the News

2005-11-29T18:48:00.000-06:00

The rate of caesarean-section deliveries performed in the U.S. reached a record high in 2004, despite efforts by the government to reduce the rate, according to data released on Tuesday by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports. Almost 1.2 million c-sections, or 29.1% of all births, were performed in the U.S. in 2004, which is an increase from 27.5% in 2003 and 20.7% in 1996. The government in 2000 introduced an agenda to reduce the rate of c-sections to 15% by 2010. The increase in the c-section rate can be attributed to patient and physician preference, physicians' fears of malpractice lawsuits over problems resulting from vaginal delivery and risks surrounding vaginal birth after c-section, according to the AP/Sun (Stobbe, AP/Las Vegas Sun, 11/16).

In other news women across the country are having their options taken away when it comes to child birth. With Cesareans on the rise, to an all time high of 20.6% of all first time births, women facing a second pregnancy have little or not choice in how they deliver their child.

Over 300 hospitals and thousands of physicians across the country have banned vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) based on cost concerns and fears over liability. These bans mean that women are pushed into cesareans they do not want and likely do not need.

The VBAC (Vaginal birth after cesarean) rate fell to 9.2%, even though studies show that over 70% of mothers can give birth vaginally after a cesarean. Since 1996, the VBAC rate in the U.S. has plummeted 67%.

Most hospitals that have banned VBAC will point out that the strict VBAC guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology have made it difficult to offer VBAC. ACOG's guidelines require that the hospital be capable of an "immediate" cesarean if complications should arise, which means surgical teams must be available at all times. But others point out that these strict standards are largely unattainable and not based on the available medical evidence.

According to another physician's group, the American Academy of Family Physicians, VBAC "should not be restricted only to facilities with available surgical teams present throughout labor since there is no evidence that these additional resources result in improved outcomes."

"ACOG's guidelines defy logic. Other emergencies occur in labor. If a hospital says it isn't safe for a VBAC labor, then it isn't safe for any woman to labor there," says Henci Goer, a noted expert on VBAC research.

So a procedure, Cesarean, once reserved for High risk and deliveries that face emergencies, is now the norm. Talk about a women's write to choice! Women are getting their right trampled on at a time when they are most vulnerable!!

For women being threatened with a coerced cesarean, ICAN has developed a guide to help them understand their rights as patients. The resource discusses the principles of informed consent and the right of every patient to refuse an unwanted medical procedure. The guide can be found at ican-online.org/resources/white_papers/wp_vbacbanqa.pdf.

Thanksgiving, theater and witches, OH, MY!

2005-11-28T19:03:00.000-06:00

So the In-Laws are safely at home and all went well. Minimum stress at the house, and the "boys" got a ton of work done on our remodel, it actually looks like a room now, we are starting to talk about flooring :)!!!

Tips from thanksgiving, if you brine your turkey....Pickling salt is about 2:1 to table salt, so adjust the brine according, or you'll end up with a salty bird.

Evidently, the best think I make is the only thing I won't eat, Brussels Sprouts. They praised all weekend on just how good they were, I wouldn't know, I hate the things.

My loving husband managed to snake tickets to the sold out wicked!

Stephanie J. Block was wonderful as Elphaba, she's a wonderful singer! Unfortunately Kendra Kassebaum was not our Glinda, Blaine says she's a riot, but all the same her understudy was good. Kendra is a Saint Louis native and has really shined for the home crowd. Carol Kane (Madame Morrible) and David Garrison (The Wizard) left to go off to the Broadway show, we got to see their last performance, so I was thrilled.

The cast was also kind enough to sign our Grimmerie, and even slip little notes into the book (like a note from Fiyero (the love interest) to Elphaba) and a ticket to a show at an Oz theater. Blaine has love working with the crew and the show is fabulous! If it comes your way, go see it!!!

Listen Defy Gravity

We also got a chance to see the latest installment of Harry Potter. We snuck out on Thanksgiving night and left the kids with the In-Laws. I really enjoyed it, but the movies are really becoming, like the books, darker and less suited for kids. So now I waiting with baited breath for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Gee, it seems my taste in entertainment seems to be running along the witchy side :)

well I hope you all had wonderful holidays....and I'll soon be back to my blogging soon.

Buy Nothing Christmas

2005-11-20T20:39:00.000-06:00

I found this from stella, what a great Idea!

Introducing Buy Nothing Christmas

This Christmas we'll be swamped with offers, ads and invitations to buy more stuff. But now there's a way to say enough and join a movement dedicated to reviving the original meaning of Christmas giving.

Buy Nothing Christmas is a national initiative started by Canadian Mennonites but open to everyone with a thirst for change and a desire for action.

Buy Nothing Christmas is a stress-reliever, and more people need to hear about it. You can change your world by simply putting up one of the posters (or make your own) in your neighbourhood, place of worship, home or work. Be sneaky about it if you have to. The point is to get people thinking. It's an idea whose time has come, so get out there and make a difference!

Giving back

2005-11-20T13:34:00.000-06:00

When going out and buying for Christmas, Yule, or Hanukkah (what ever is your poison) here are a few things to think about:

Remember those who don't have anything:

Treehouse - Since 1988, Treehouse has filled the gaps that no other agency addresses: fees for extra-curricular programs and summer camp ... Educational support services ... the wherewithal for full participation in the "everyday" activities of growing up ... clothing and supplies so they "fit in" at school.

Care Wear is a nationwide group of volunteers who knit, crochet, and/or sew, providing handmade baby items to hospitals. All Care Wear items are given free to infants, children and their parents.

Angel Tree - Since 1982, Prison Fellowship's Angel Tree Christmas ministry has helped churches organize volunteers to provide gifts and the Gospel message for prisoners' children. During 2003, over one-half million children received gifts through Angel Tree programs in local churches all across America. Angel Tree is composed of three programs: Christmas, Camping, and Mentoring.

Child welfare - CWLA is an association of more than 900 public and private nonprofit agencies that assist more than 3.5 million abused and neglected children and their families each year with a range of services. You can buy a gift that can help children.

Toys for Tots - The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

Food banks

2005-11-19T18:59:00.000-06:00

Reuters.com: "The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Friday to cut $700 million from the food stamp program as part of a broad bill to reduce federal spending by $50 billion, despite objections from antihunger groups.

Some 235,000 people would lose food stamp benefits under the House bill, according to one analysis.

he majority of these cuts will affect welfare-to-work families who receive non-cash Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefits and legal immigrants who have been in this country for more than five years."

This Thanksgiving remember families who may not be having a feast. High heating cost this winter and the pending loss of food stamps for our working poor, please give to your local food banks, NOW more than ever.

My Lobotomy: NPR oral history

2005-11-17T13:42:00.000-06:00

I heard a powerful sorry on the radio last night. "my Lobotomy" . You can read more about Howard Dully or listen to his story, in his words, and the voices of others who suffered (and I do mean suffered) from this "medical" procedure.

On Jan. 17, 1946, a psychiatrist named Walter Freeman launched a radical new era in the treatment of mental illness in this country. On that day, he performed the first-ever transorbital or "ice-pick" lobotomy in his Washington, D.C., office. Freeman believed that mental illness was related to overactive emotions, and that by cutting the brain he cut away these feelings. Walter Freeman traveled around in the '50s and '60s in a car he called the "lobotomobile", carrying the tools of his trade, icepick and mallet.

After 2,500 operations, Freeman performed his final ice-pick lobotomy on a housewife named Helen Mortenson in February 1967. She died of a brain hemorrhage, and Freeman's career was finally over.

This is a sad reminder of how we treated our mentally ill. Today there is still misconception and mistreatment of mentally ill in our country, even by those who should be treating them, their doctors.
One story is that of a new mother given a transorbital lobotomy for post-partum depression. Lobotomys were given for all types of mental disorders and health problems. From depression to migraines and the results were mixed. Some people had improvements, while a large number had severe complications, including death.

Lobotomy NPR