FAQs About Life Insurance

As Life Insurance Awareness Month comes to an end I thought I would share some frequently asked questions about life insurance…

What is life insurance?

In its basic definition life insurance is a contract between an insurance company and an individual that is designed to provide financial compensation to the policy owner’s beneficiaries in the event of the policy owner’s death.  So prior to buying life insurance you should ask yourself one simple question “who will suffer financially if I am not here?”  Since life insurance is typically used as for income replacement the answer to this question for many people  dictates whether or not they need life insurance.  As with most things, there are exceptions to this rule of thumb.

What are some of the purposes of life insurance?

Life insurance can also be used to:

• Pay off existing mortgage
• Pay estate taxes
• Fund college education
• Protect key employees in a business
• Create an estate
• Provide money a spouse / children
• Supplement retirement income

So as you can see from the list above life insurance can have a variety of uses when it comes to planning for the future protection of loved ones among other things.  Its flexibility is one of the reasons most people require it.

How much life insurance is enough?

One of the most overlooked areas of life insurance is determining proper coverage amounts.  Most people are under insured.  The reason being they have no idea how to determine how much coverage they require.  You should take the time to decide exactly what you want to happen if something were to happen to you.  My suggestion….the most you can qualify for.  This will serve as a minimum guideline in determining the amount.

For example, if income were your major concern you might use it as the basis for your calculation.  Most insurance companies suggest 8-10 times your income as a rule of thumb.  So a person making 30,000 a year would require 300,000 in total insurance coverage.  This is the easiest way of deciding the amount of coverage however it may not be the most comprehensive.

I suggest a more comprehensive analysis of your needs by taking into consideration not only your income but your current and future expenses as well.  Your current expenses versus future expenses may not be the same and thus should be taken into account.  If it is reasonable that future expenses will be greater than your coverage amount should be increased accordingly.  Once you have decided how much coverage you need the next step is determining the length of coverage.

How long do I need insurance coverage?

Determining the length of coverage is easy to calculate and will actually determine what kind of insurance you should buy.  You should take a number of factors into consideration, such as:

• Your age and/or your spouse’s age
• The age(s) of your children
• Your health and/or spouse’s health
• Your future financial obligations (i.e. mortgage, college education, etc.)
• The number of years until your retirement

So now you should have a idea of  how much coverage you need and for how long, the next step is figuring out what kind of coverage you need.  Life insurance comes in two forms, temporary (term) and permanent (whole).

What type of insurance coverage do I need?

Term Life Insurance is simply life insurance for a specific period of time or term (5 to 30 years in most cases). Term life is, generally, the type insurance offered through group plans (like through most workplaces), credit insurance (credit cards, personal loans, etc. – the structure is the same, but the cost is usually higher for credit life), and some accidental death policies. Term life is the most affordable type of insurance in terms of cost versus death benefit. The policy is payable only upon death of the insured within the term as prescribed in the contract. The two most common variations of term life insurance are level term and decreasing or declining term.

Level term means the premiums and the death benefit remain the same or level for the entire term of the contract. This type is often used to coincide with the age of maturity for the policyholder’s children (coverage until their kids reach age 18 or 21). This way, there is a consistent benefit until the children reach an age to provide for themselves. Level term is also often used as an affordable starting point until people are better able to afford another policy type.

Decreasing or declining term policies offer a gradually decreasing/declining death benefit with a level premium. The most common use for this type is as mortgage insurance. People establish a declining payout that matches the balance of their outstanding mortgage(s) over time.

Whole Life Insurance offers a consistent death benefit (typically to age 100) with the same premium for the life of the policy and a “cash value” which accumulates over time. You get coverage for your entire life, so long as the policy is in force (the premiums are paid). Whole life is commonly used for long-term coverage needs like supplementing retirement, consistent income for a surviving spouse, death taxes, or estate liquidity. Compared to term life, the premiums are usually more expensive to start, but less than renewing or converting a term policy later in life.

The underlying “cash value” of your policy builds gradually over time. A portion of your premium is invested on behalf of your policy to generate income for the policy. The rate of return varies from company to company and policy to policy. For the most part, this is not an aggressive investment and should not be relied upon as a primary source for retirement – only as a supplement. If you cancel your policy, you will receive the cash value that has accumulated to that point, if any. The cash value may also be borrowed against for whatever purpose you choose, reinvested into premiums, or left to build until maturity. The policy is typically structured to accumulate a cash value equal to the death benefit.

There are definite benefits and advantages to a whole life policy. Many people use them as a backbone in their protection plan with term life supplements or riders. The package best suited to your needs can be difficult to put together on your own. Consulting a professional can help to narrow your selection and find you the best coverage for your situation.

Universal Life Insurance is engineered with flexibility in mind. It offers a flexible policy where you can vary the premium payments or face value, so long as you pay enough to cover the insurance part of your policy. The premium you pay (reduced by expenses) goes into a policy with an investment attached – usually a short-term money instrument with a modest yield. You are typically guaranteed a minimum yield over the life of the policy.

The premiums are often lower than a whole life policy, but there is also more uncertainty about the accumulation of cash value. You have more control over the face value and premium payments – for instance, you may decrease the face value over time to match a mortgage balance (similar to a declining term policy) or increase your premium payments to accumulate cash value more quickly. If your premium payments plus earnings fall below the cost of maintaining the policy, your value will decrease and if the value falls to far, the policy may lapse. It is important to monitor the performance of your policy.

Variable or Adjustable Life Insurance policies allow you a variable death benefit and premium based on the performance of investments you choose through the insurance carrier. The cash value accumulates through investment in bond funds, stock funds and real estate funds offered through your insurance company and chosen by you. The investment portion of your policy functions very much like a mutual fund selection.

The greatest distinction between whole life and variable life is you are responsible for the performance of your policy. You have control, yet you assume more responsibility. Great care should be taken when working with variable life. Unlike term or other insurance products, you must be very active in maintaining your account. You assume the risks typically associated with stock investments. If your investments do very well, your level of protection is increased and the long-term benefits enhanced; however, if your investments do poorly you may loose your underlying cash value and consequently your coverage.

A variable policy can be a great product selection, however careful research and proper guidance are paramount. Insurance agents who offer variable life must be licensed securities dealers and registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Do your research into the investments available through different companies and take care to invest wisely. An experienced insurance professional can help you select a solid company with strong investment opportunities.

Children's literature and the five senses

Children’s literature and the five senses
This website aims to present different ways to implement the language of perception and emotions using the theme of the five senses in children’s literature, a hot topic in literature and necessary to understanding poetry. This website will also give you some insights and introduce you on what activities to use to change attitude when it comes to literature communication between teachers (or parents) and students (or children)

Once Upon a Time...The Importance of Pretend Play

By: John Lee

“Imaginative play is a precursor of conceptual thought – in which possibilities are explored upon the inner ’stage’ of a child’s imagination.” – Erik Erikson

To all the flash card fans and fact drillers out there, the statement I am about to make may shock you: For young children, developing imagination is an important way to gain knowledge.

You read correctly – and I’m not alone in this quest to elevate imaginative play to its rightful place alongside knowing ABCs or numbers or reading before the age of 3.

The Value of Pretend Play

Many experts agree on the lifetime value of developing imagination. Yale University child development psychologists Dorothy and Jerome Singer say, “A critical feature of adult life is our ability to create stories we tell ourselves about possible futures and ways of attaining our goals. Children need to get an early start in such inner storytelling and mental manipulation of various situations.”

Through play, children express the world inside them and order the world outside. Children’s minds are amazing when at work, especially those minds that don’t know the “right way to play.” Those children find paths to discovery and understanding, marching to the beat of their own drummers, and along the way they open the door to independence, self-confidence and unlimited potential.

Open-ended play encourages this highly individual experience and is fueled by imagination. Toys that leave room for a child’s input and creative imagination are the ones that they return to over and over again – they are captivating, enduring.

It’s important to start kids on the right road to imaginative play from their earliest months of infancy. The Singers point out recent research that shows children who are encouraged in imaginative play prove to be more creative a few years later, have a richer vocabulary, are less impulsive and aggressive and often become leaders with their playmates….More

holiDAY. yeah, just the one.

So today is my holiDAY. One day by myself during the school break, so how have i chosen to spend my one day alone? Not very wisely me thinks, in hindsight.

For a start, when I returned home alone on the train last night there was not a scrap of real food in the house and I was very thirsty. (note to self-multiple beers drinked in quick succession does not equal dinner, and may result in internetz faux pas’s:) I can’t get to the shops for real food till tomorrow.

For breakfast, i found some (slightly stale) biscuits and caved in to the relentlessly manipulative jar of coffee. I woke to discover that the floor and every other available surface of my house is covered in a thick layer of red dust. (something to do with me leaving the back door open and going on holidays during the worst dust storm of the century. oops) It had been a good 24 hours since i last spoke to another human bean (cat and dust does not count) so I phoned my dad, then my sister for a good girly gossip session. Then on to taking a bath (me time! +50 points:) and then mopping the floor -50 points for drudgery, though i did listen to my cd of 50’s love songs and pretend i was wearing heels and a frilly apron, which was fun for a minute.

50’s love songs make me cry. Well, mostly the one’s about young and innocent teenage lovers dying in tragic acts of stupidity (think “tell laura i love her” and “teen angel” – go on google the lyrics, it’s truly tragic) When the children are home and see me crying to this cd while i clean the house, i just explain to them that “smoke gets in my eyes” but the meaning is lost on them.

Next I did some reading. I am desperately trying to get through my Asperger’s, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue text books before i go off on my beach holiday jaunt. It is a strictly Hashi’s, Fibromyalgia ME/CFS, Aspie – free holiday, no getting sick allowed and i will be choosing to ignore all aspie behaviours lest i lose my mind. In fact, I think I have chronic aspie-fatigue at the moment.

I have also been reading more of the Adrian Mole series, and am pleased to say that after reading 2.65 books, I am finally developing a soft spot for the useless git (mainly because he cleaned his girlfriends apartment, threw out his ugly shoes and bought her nice knickers – all men (i am dating) should follow his lead:)   I have had to stop reading there though, in order to savour the moment, for i know they shall be breaking up in the very near future chapter. I know this because 1. he is a useless git and 2. the girlfriend just shouted at him for sniffing. Once a man starts freely and repeatedly sniffing rather than using a tissue or handkerchief, the relationship is all downhill from there. I shall let you know if i am proven wrong and they live happily and sniffily ever after.

Next up on this holiDAY, I am going to sit under the fan drinking tea and eating biscuits (lunch) and either read some more or watch a movie. I can’t go outside because of dust storm no.2 in full force, which is preventing me from enjoying my outdoors but also preventing me from doing any laundry today:) My leisure time must thus be spent indoors with the windows and doors shut tight and the fans on to give the illusion of fresh air. I will also be starting on a grocery and to-do list for tomorrow, for once the children return home, my brain will be unable to handle such in-depth thinking as it becomes used up and overworked with the tasks of peace keeping, preventing arguments from becoming physical and trying to instill a sense of order and routine.

TO DO:

• buy new swimmers before leaving on beach jaunt (polka dot bikini?)
• source new reading material before leaving on beach jaunt (library &/ secondhand book store)
• take children to the movies. If they are behaving themselves.
• Buy food!! (no beer)
• wash and re-pack clothes.
• mop up more dust.
• remember to rest so that holiday is not spent feeling ill.
• finish current subject – legislation blah blah blah
• apologise to sidekick for going through his stuff, remembering to assure him that finding what i found is punishment enough so there is no need for admonishment on his part.
• stop reading adrian mole books, they rub off on me in an overly dramatic and self-centred manner (was E. shaped by them as a young man? -must ask)

Ciao, m:)

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I have added a special click-on to my main page on WordPress.com.  If you click on it (it takes literally a matter of 10 seconds to complete) the advertising company will contribute  money toward the American Diabetes Association.  This is such a great cause I believe it is worthy of the click!

Why?  Because diabetes is a huge contributing factor to many health related illnesses the National Institutes of Health had this to say:

“Diabetes afflicts nearly 21 million people in the United States, but its burden is disproportionately felt by minorities, including African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders. About 13 percent of African Americans age 20 and older suffer from diabetes, a rate that is nearly twice that of non-Hispanic whites.”

 

Diabetes can affect the heart, the liver, the pancreas;  every system in the body works off of the other so it is important to control diseases that affect all of them.

 

I am asking for your support in this cause…it doesn’t cost you anything except about 10 seconds…is someones life worth that to you?

til later,

from the mind of…

Therapy 1 - Hell is...

Okay – so this is not a Snapshot…it is a ‘Therapy’ session whereby I complain about something current to get it off my chest…because I am very precious no-one wants me to go mad!

Last night, one of my good friends (Friend A) visited town with her husband and 2 children. We hadn’t seen each-other for about 3 years, and I was looking forward to seeing her and the family. I had invited them over to our place for dinner. A mutual friend of ours (Friend B) discovered that Friend A was coming to town and asked if she could come along to dinner as well. That’s perfectly fine because Friend B is lovely.

Then Friend B said that she’d also be bringing her 2 children (Devil Children) and her MOTHER along. This would be perfectly fine if her children were not Devil Children and if her mother would stop talking (about herself)! Friend B’s children (bless them) do not understand the concept of playing socially. They leap on and off sofas. Hang off curtains. Throw shoes. Hit other children when they think no-one is watching (and if they get caught by an adult, pretend it was a big accident). I really do not like having them inside my house or near other children. In fact I do not like to be within a 10km radius of them.

Then Friend B, being the lovely person that she is, said, why don’t we have the dinner at her place, and that way, at least her children will not wreak a path of destruction in my house. We agreed and shifted the dinner to her place. All okay so far. I was very grateful.

SO we went to her house and our 6 children started playing together in the back yard. Fine. Then Devil Child 1 unlatched the back gate and all the children escaped into the bushland behind Friend B’s house. And her dog escaped too. Then Friend B’s mother started howling about all the children missing (we could see them from the kitchen window – so it wasn’t that dire). So we all ran out into the bushland to gather up the children. Managed that pretty quickly. Then we discovered that the dog had vanished, so the big brave men-folk ran around the bushland looking for the dog. Found it and brought it home. No one noticed that Devil Child 2 had brought some choice killing sticks into the house to beat other children with. After he succeeded in making 3 children cry (including his brother, Devil Child 1)  the sticks were confiscated.

Then we all sat down to our dinner – lovely food procured from a local take-away. All was well until Devil Child 2 decided to rub his dinner into the sofa and sit on it. His mother took him away to change his pants. Then Devil Child 1 decided to jump up and down on the same sofa. There were anguished screams from the adults as the brave and strong men-folk tackled Devil Child 1 and held him down until his mother came back.

Somewhere in between all the madness, I was trying to catch up with Friend A. We were screaming at each other (nicely) trying to be heard over the din of the children, and also trying to keep our own children under control (and the 4 of them behaved pretty normally). Then Friend B’s mother (who has never met Friend A before) inserted herself into our conversation and proceeded to share the stories of all her ‘very successful’ children and grand children and all the stories of her own life. This would be fine – except that we were there to catch up with EACH-OTHER after 3 years.

Yes, I am selfish – I can see it as I type this. I should have felt more supportive of Friend B and her Mother. I should have gritted my teeth and smiled through her Devil Children’s antics. But I didn’t. I kept a frozen smile on my face and kept quiet.  I felt despondent and pissed off. And I remembered why I hadn’t managed to see Friend B for about a year – despite us living very close to each other. Which leads me to the conclusion…

Hell is other people’s children (and mothers).  :roll:

Washington State Allows Thimerosal in H1N1 Vaccine

Washington State Department of Health
September 25, 2009

OLYMPIA – State health officials are taking steps to ensure Washington residents at highest risk for H1N1 (swine flu) infection have broad access to the new vaccine when its available. Secretary of Health Mary Selecky is temporarily suspending Washingtons limit on the amount of mercury (thimerosal) allowed in H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine given to pregnant women and children under three.

Its vital to be sure everyone in a high risk group has the choice to be vaccinated when swine flu vaccine becomes available, said Secretary Selecky. Mercury-free H1N1 vaccine may not always be in stock, and we want to be sure there are no barriers to protecting people.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

The six-month suspension is effective through March 23, 2010 and applies only to H1N1 (swine flu) vaccines now being developed. As a precaution, Washington state law limits the amount of mercury that can be in vaccines for pregnant women and children under three. The secretary of health can suspend the law when theres a shortage of vaccine or during a disease outbreak both criteria apply to the H1N1 (swine flu)
vaccine. Supplies of mercury-free vaccine will be limited, which may stop people in these groups who want the vaccine from getting it.

H1N1 vaccination is voluntary. Pregnant women and children under three are at the top of the list to get the vaccine because theyre at high risk for serious complications from swine flu.

We believe suspending the law allows health care providers to offer their patients as many choices as possible to protect themselves against H1N1,” said Cindy Markus, MD, President of the Washington State Medical Association.

When the limits are suspended, the law requires that pregnant or lactating women and parents or guardians of children under 18 be told theyre getting a vaccine containing more mercury than is usually permitted. There is no specific notification method required; most patients will get a handout to read.

The mercury in vaccines is in a preservative called thimerosal. Its been used safely for years to prevent contamination of vaccines in vials that contain more than one dose. Except for some types of flu vaccines, all vaccines routinely recommended for children under six years of age are thimerosal-free, or contain only
trace amounts. While some people are concerned about the safety of thimerosal, many large, thorough studies have shown no harm caused by thimerosal in vaccines.

Federal health officials expect H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine to be available in early October. Although there will eventually be enough vaccine for everyone, supplies will be limited at first and will likely be reserved for high risk people. People are encouraged to check with their private health care provider, public health clinics, retail pharmacies, and community vaccination event organizers on locations to get the vaccine. State and local health partners are working together to identify these locations and will share that information when vaccine is available.

URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/washington-state-allows-thimerosal-in-h1n1-vaccine/

Genetic studies show India is the most diverse place in the world after Africa !

Africa is the most diverse place in the world genetically. But phenotypically, India is the most diverse place in the world.

India has been defined as a ‘Country of Caravans”. The country has seen the arrival of diverse groups, races and religious communities from the very beginning.  Aborigines, Aryans, Chinese, Mediterranean, Nordics, Mongols and Europeans came here and merged in the great Indian nation. India is the only country of the world where you will experience such a diverse kind of the people.                                       

 

There are 4 races in India.

1) Australoids

2) Dravidians(Caucasoids)

3) Mongoloids

4) Indo Aryans(Caucasoids)

 

1) Australoids

The Australoid race is very closely related to Australian aborigines and melanesians. They were the first waves of people who migrated to India 60,000 yrs ago.  Presently, In India, the dalits(untouchables), low caste people and the hill tribes of India are descendants of australoid people.  Australoid people also form the slum population of India.  They are people with wavy hair  lavishly distributed all over their dark bodies, long headed with low foreheads,  noses with low and broad roots, thick jaws, large palates and teeth and small chins. The Austrics of India represent a race of medium height, dark complexion with long heads and rather broad noses but otherwise of regular features. Australoids have never been mixed with other races in India because they were low caste and thus were considered inferior and unattractive by Dravidians, Indo Aryans and Mongoloids of India. Australoids are mainly seen in the Southern hill tribes of India and are also seen in the slums in Mumbai. They are also seen in Tamilnadu and Kerala mainly in the villages as a minority. Australoids are seen in North India too as small groups.  Australoids are a minority in India and they form only 25% of the Indian population.  Australoids are widely discriminated in India and they are treated very poorly in India.

Some pics of Australoids in India:

 

 

2) Dravidians aka Mediterraneans.

The second group of immigrants who migrated to India were the Dravidians aka the Mediterranean people. They migrated to India from Eastern Mediterranean regions like Syria, Jordan, Turkey and parts of Greece roughly 4000 yrs ago. Dravidians form the majority of the population in South India. They range from pale to golden brown skin with straight shiny black hair, very large eyes, thin lips, oval shaped faces, considerable body hair and pointy prominent noses. Dravidians are classified as Mediterranean caucasians. Dravidians were the founders of city civilization of the Indus valley. Dravidians are an ancient form of the Mediterranean race. Anthropologists describe Dravidians as the ‘Mother of the Mediterranean race’. 

Some pics of Dravidians:

 

Famous Model and movie actress Aishwarya Rai is a dravidian(pic of her below):

 

More pics of Dravidians:

 

 

 

3) Mongoloids

These people are found in the North eastern part of India in the states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Tripura. They are also found in Northern parts of West Bengal, Sikkim, and Ladakh. Generally they are people with yellow complexion, oblique eyes, high cheekbones, flat noses, sparse hair and medium height. Mongoloids migrated to India from China 2,000 yrs ago. Mongoloids form only 3% of the Indian population.

Pics of Mongoloids in India:

 

 

4) Indo Aryans(Nordics)

This group were the last one to immigrate to India. They migrated to India from Southern Russia or Iran(I am more inclined to believe Indo aryans are from Iran because North Indians look more like Iranians and nothing like Russians) 3,500 yrs ago. They form almost all of the population of North India and Central India. Central Indians(Gujaratis) are heavily aryans wih a little mix of dravidian.  Indo aryans usually have pale/olive skin, straight/wavy black/brown hair, dark eyes(sometimes colored eyes), thin noses, long faces with well marked chins and hairy bodies.  There are really tan/dark skinned Indo aryans too. Indo aryans are classified as Nordic caucasians. Many Indo aryans are mixed with the Dravidians. Indo aryans are also seen in large numbers in Northern Europe in the form of blonde hair and blue/green eyes.  Indo aryans in India are a dark haired dark eyed version of the Indo aryans seen in Northern Europe.

Pic of Central Indians(Indo aryans mixed with Dravidians). Hence, their light tan skin.

 

Pics of Indo Aryans from North India:

 

 

In short,

Most Indians(72%) are caucasians(either Nordic or Mediterranean or a mix of both), 25% of Indians(tribal people, slums and dalits) are australoids and 3% of Indians are mongoloid.

In other words, Both Dravidians and Indo aryans(Mediterranean & Nordic) constitute 72% of the population along with Australoid people forming 25% of the Indian population and mongoloids forming only 3% of the Indian population.

Preventing Diseases Passed From Animal To

Zoonoses is the term applied to a grouping of diseases that are transferable from canine/feline to human. Basically, these fall into three groupings based on their means of transmission, Pets, Animal, . This also groups them, ideally,in the means of treatment and control. The three groupings are as follows -spread through :1) urine or feces, 2) hair and skin contact, or 3)bites and scratches.Spread through Urine or FecesHookwormsHookworms, Pets, Animal, enter the body in the area that directly comes in contact, Pets, Animal,, Pets, Animal, with the feces-contanimated soil. Seen more commonly in the South, these parasites are unsuited to ideally live in human beings. Traditionally they die after crawling, Pets, Animal, several inches underneath the surface layer of the skin. Inflammation usually occurs as a result of, Pets, Animal, these parasites in humans and causes a condition called “creeping eruption” which may last several weeks or months depending on its severity.LeptospirosisPets, Pets, Animal, may come in contact with this through swimming, drinking, licking their fur, or by eating food contaminated with animal urine. Many animals may carry this, though rats are most often the culprit.Symptoms in humans are flu-like including chills, body aches, vomiting, fever and headache. Sometimes kidney damage may occur or the membranes covering the spinal cord or brain may become inflamed. This disease is not usually fatal though it does make its host miserable, Pets, Animal, for weeks at a time.RoundwormsIf these parasites are swallowed by humans they migrate, Pets, Animal, into the body tissues and may cause damage, including symptoms of fever and liver enlargement which can last up to a year in length including symptoms of fever and liver enlargement which can last up to a year in length.These parasites are most commonly found in small children(2-4 yrs. of age) who mistakenly swallow the eggs and become infected. Children playing in an area in which an animal has defecated in the past, who do not wash their hands after coming in contact with the eggs and inadvertently sticks their hands into their mouth, Pets, Animal, are the most common receptors of roundworm. Only rarely fatal, the disease is traditionally mild though it may be long, Pets, Animal, lasting.TapewormsTapeworms, Pets, Animal, can easily be ingested by any pet who swallows a flea carrying the infected form when biting at or chewing their coat. Children may get it virtually the same way- minus the coat chewing. Tapeworm infestation in humans this way is actually quite rare when compared to infestation from eating undercooked pork or beef.ToxoplasmosisRarely this may, Pets, Animal, cause death in humans since most people, Pets, Animal, develop a resistance to it during normal exposure. It can cause many types of birth deformities in children born to mothers who have been infected for the first time without having developed an immunity before becoming pregnant. Most commonly this is “picked up” through contact with infected cat feces or in contact with contaminated soil.Prevention, Pets, Animal, of Waste Transmitted DiseasesThere are a few basic precautions everyone should take to prevent transmission of any of the fore-mentioned diseases. First, clean up all pet droppings and wash your hands each time you any come in contact with contaminated soil. It is extremely important to teach children these steps. Also, if your pet has gone wading or swimming in any water which may have become contaminated with animal urine, bathe it at once when you return home.Spread through Skin/Hair ContactFleasFleas prefer feeding on your pets though they will not turn up the chance of of making an occasional meal on humans as well.RingwormMost commonly found, Pets, Animal, in children(though anyone may be infected), this is caused by a skin/hair eating fungus which first appears on people as a round, red, scaly area. It grows outward in a circular formation and is the most common fungal disease currently reported.Rocky Mountain Spotted FeverTick borne, this disease can cause symptoms such as fever, chills and headache though it is not usually fatal. Symptoms may last, Pets, Animal, many, Pets, Animal, weeks and it can be treated with antibiotics.Most commonly it is transmitted through the bite of an infected tick. Also, you may become infected while pulling a tick off your pet . It is best to wear gloves when removing ticks.ScabiesThe less commonly found version of mange(as opposed to the demodetic version), this may still cause intense itching, irritation and thickening of the skin. Animal, Pets, Animal, mange may live in human skin though it cannot reproduce there. Humans have their own, Pets, Animal, version of the scabies mite.Prevention of Skin/Hair Contact DiseasesOverall, proper nutritional care and health of your pet is the best defense against the chance of your pet harboring any of these diseases. Frequent grooming and herbal repellents are good choices in combating most of these problems before they become major. Stress, roaming and contact with other pets are the three most common points of transmission among the previous diseases.Wash your hands after pet contact and minimize contact with any infected pet until the problem is cured.Diseases Caused by Bites and ScratchesCat Scratch FeverSome people will develop a fever, enlarged lymph nodes and malaise near the area of a bite or scratch from a cat a few weeks after the occurrence. Though not fatal it can be very uncomfortable and can be followed by complications. Infected cat bites may become, Pets, Animal, infected with an entirely different, Pets, Animal, bacteria though the symptoms are similar.Probably best, is to thoroughly wash an area bitten or scratched by a cat and to clean it liberally on a frequent basis to prevent, hopefully, infection.RabiesVirtually 100% fatal once the clinical symptoms appear, this disease is carried by a virus transmitted through, Pets, Animal, the saliva of an infected biting animal. Symptoms include frothing at the mouth, extreme behavioral/personality changes and convulsions which usually ends in the aggressive, staggering and bleary- eyed condition.If you happen upon an animal showing any of these symptoms, get away from it as quickly as possible and call your nearest animal control unit. If by chance you are, Pets, Animal, bitten, try to follow it to where it lives(if it is a stray)so that the proper officials may capture it for testing. If you do kill it, do not injure the head as this will be needed for verification. Also, if you are bitten by an animal exhibiting any of the symptoms above, thoroughly wash out the wound as quickly as possible and contact your personal physician. Overall, your chances of getting rabies are rare though you can never be over cautious.Prevention of Bite and Scratch Transmitted DiseasesBest advice,keep your pet in tip-top physical condition through exercise and proper nutrition to reduce, Pets, Animal, its chances of picking up any parasites from less healthy animals. Also, try to minimize your pets contact with wild animals or sick pets.–Article written and reprinted with permission of: http://www.pedigreedpups.com/Purebred Dogs, Puppies and Dog Breeders – “Your New Best Friend”Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.

1-2-3

http://www.familylife.com/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=dnJHKLNnFoG&b=3882207&ct=5007881

I love this article by Barbara Rainey on Family Life Today! (I would copy it here but don’t want to violate copyright laws. So please follow the link to read the article.) I get a daily email about marriage from Family Life and they are very encouraging.

My ears are burning from listening to women talk about their husbands and families. Since when is it all about the children? I was taught that a married woman’s priorities should be 1-2-3 God, husband and then children. Most Christian women will say they believe this but their lives tell a different story.

When we first fall in love and marry, it’s all about our man. Vows, dreams, spending time, conversation, being close … we start building a life together. Then children come along. So often I watch women allow their children to consume their identities. They function in mommy mode and forget about wife mode. And they expect their husbands to understand and be satisfied with the arrangement. No babysitters because something might happen, calling home during a night out to check on things, no overnights away, treating their husbands like babysitters instead of parents, endless children’s activities without scheduled “couple” time, etc. Over time, these things take a toll and can kill a marriage. It’s called neglect.

Our children need to see us loving each other in tangible ways. They need to watch a good marriage being modeled for them. Our sons and daughters learn how to treat their future spouses by watching how we do it. And, let’s face it, our kids need a break from us, too! The purpose of parenting is to teach and train them to become independent adults. This doesn’t start when they graduate from high school. It’s dozens of daily decisions and lettings go.

Save some of your energy for your husband; he is your number two priority. He can make you feel beautiful and sexy. He can make you feel safe and secure. He can make you feel cherished and adored. And he wants to if you can spare the time. Treated with respect and care, he will do all these things for you. Your children cannot. When they are grown and gone, it will be the two of you again. Having a healthy marriage when the empty nest comes takes intentional nurturing.

So our todays reflect what our tomorrows will be. Today does matter. Love on your man!
www.candytroutman.wordpress.com

Wordy Wednesday

What does it say about my household cleaning habits that whenever I say “Ok, let’s clean up this room”, Littlepixie jumps up excitedly and says “Woo hoo, Who’s coming to visit?”

Hmmm…. I do clean, really I do (even when we have no guests due), sort of, occasionally, you know how it is Actually I bought this postcard for the fridge while I was in London at Easter, everyone who calls by is impressed at how well it suits me (and the outfit is virtually identical to my housecleaning clothes, uncanny!):

(apologies to those of you who do have clean houses, I’m just bitter and jealous, don’t mind me ).

Actually, note to self (BIG note) – Declutter house… one of these days.

The Rug Rat Race

Fabulous title, eh? For your delectation and intellectual stimulation, may I direct you to the working paper of that name by Garey Ramey and Valerie A. Ramey from the National Bureau of Economic Research, published in August 2009. (So it’s September and I’m behind in my reading. I’ve been travelling. That’s my excuse.)

This working paper looks closely at childcare usage and trends, linking twelve time use surveys from 1965 to 2007.

We argue that the increase in time spent in childcare,
particularly among the college educated, may be a response to an increase in the perceived return
to attending a good college, coupled with an increase in competition in college admissions.
Importantly, the size of college-bound cohorts rose dramatically beginning in the early 1990s,
coincident with the increase in time spent on childcare.

Increased scarcity of college slots appears to have induced heightened rivalry among
parents, taking the form of more hours spent on college preparatory activities. In other words,
the rise in childcare time resulted from a “rug rat race” for admission to good colleges.

Crikey! Then there’s page 14 which looks at Trends in Overall Time Use of Mothers.

Anyway, read through it all, including the later pages where the authors rebut the usual explanations given, including income effects and selection effects.

Butterfly Birth- "Chris"

Last Friday, we returned home from a busy day of Waldorf Playgroup, Sweet Cakes, a trip to the consignment store for wedding clothes, a quick “in the car” nap and visit to my bachelor Dad and his bachelorette bride, to find our chrysalis had turned black!

The chrysalis itself is actually transparent but the colors of the almost-ready-to-emerge-butterfly are black and orange and can be seen. So, we added another fun activity to our busy day- butterfly waiting!

In the picture below, notice the difference in the colors of the crysalis’- top left is dark and hidden in the leaf is a vibrant green chrysalis. (Such transformation!)

Up close we can see the orange colors of the butterfly wings!

We waited and waited and forgot what we were waiting for and then remembered and low and behold- a butterfly!

I brought the butterfly outside so that when it was ready it could fly away to the flowers to get nectar and loved the color contrast between the green and orange and the blue and orange.

As we left to attend my father’s wedding on Saturday, I walked outside to show Charlie the butterflies and just as we went out the door they took to flight- their first flight. This will be how I always remember my Dad’s wedding day: a butterfly toast to Dad and Megan- hurray!

I Do It!

A friend of mine from Colorado with a two and a half year old boy said today that she just realized the pertinence of my book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too!. All of a sudden he is is saying “Daddy do it!” or “Mommy do it!” or “I do it!” There are examples everywhere! They’re everywhere! They’re everywhere! This article on early exploration is from www.explorationsearlylearning.com. Jo@Mylestones shares an I Do It Too! moment. Ask Dr Sears.com has a good page of information, too, on dependence, independence and interdependence.

I continue to learn

I am on a quest to continue learning the proper ways to interact with my step children. Putting to use what I have read so far has made a big difference in the way life moves at the house. I still am amazed and agitated that a big part of the problem was me. The way I was getting lost in the little things. Not letting myself have fun with the best and brightest kids around.  I’ve said once or twice and thought many times that if I had kids of my own I would want them to be just like these two. I hope I have not waited too long to get my act together to have a real strong relationship with them.

I still struggle with some things. I think my step son has a good idea of how I feel about him, we have our ups and downs but all in all I think he knows I love him. As for my step daughter I’m not real sure. She gives me the feeling we are on good terms but there seems to be a line that just can’t be crossed. I want to give her a hug and tell her I love her but I am unsure if it would be accepted. Not that there is a problem just that she is a daddy’s girl and I’m not daddy. And the fact that she is 17 and can be moody sometimes. I try very hard to let her be her own person, yes I do put in my two cents whether it is wanted or not.

Let me try to describe my step daughter. When I met her she was a fun loving 12 years old. She had a brightness in her eyes that would light up the room. The wildest things would come out of her mouth, the word combinations would send you to the floor laughing. As she has matured into a young lady some of that has changed. There is still a large amount of that fun loving little girl but it is now wrapped in a beautiful young woman. In between the woman she is now and the little girl she has shown her talents. She was in the choir, she had the voice to do the solo, but not the confidence or want (I’m not sure which).  I love to hear her sing with the radio, it drives her brother crazy, but not me. In high school she was dancing, I took many pictures of her on the football field… she was the best one there and no it’s not because I am biased it’s the truth. During all this she has always made good grades. She is very head strong and has not let me help her in much of the school work. I think I can remember 2 maybe 3 times where she needed my help. Hell, she is taking calculus and other classes I either didn’t take or have forgotten. She has done good traveling the road through adolescents and not gotten in trouble as some do. She likes her alone time but still comes back to mom and sometimes me. Through all the formal dances I have had the fortune to take the pictures of her and her date with other friends. As you would expect she out shined all the others. That brightness I saw in her eyes as a little girl is still there. It radiates from her in all she does. That goofy little girl is still there and continues to show but wrapped in the young woman. Next year she will go off to college, I will miss her greatly. I hope she will come home regularly if for not much more that to get her clothes washed and more money. I look forward, in a sad way, to the changes she undertakes toward further becoming an adult while she is off at college. I have only one request; Please promise to be smart and safe when making choices of what to do. If I can help you can always call me anytime.

It’s only fair that I try to describe my step son. He was 6 or 7 years old when I met him. He was the typical rambunctious little boy. He loved his TV and video games; that has not changed much. He had a laugh that was contagious. It’s one of those laughs that seems to start at his toes and just takes over his whole body. Sometimes you wondered if he was going to breathe. He’s always wanted to be a football player his mom would not let him play until recently, starting at 11. He, like his sister, is very smart. School grades are not much of a concern as long as he likes the class and teacher. Yep; he too is head strong and will try very hard to buck the rules and do it his way. He is just now starting to show his talents. He has always been very happy and fun to be around, he has a smile that brightens any place he is. This year, he’s 12 now, he is the starting left side linebacker. I am very proud of him; he wanted a starting position and did what the coaches told him to do. Now he is the starter. He enjoys hunting so we are going. I look forward to sharing with him the things I have learned from my grandfather. He is just starting the maturing process; I’m 5-5 and will soon be looking up to him. I think he will 6’, we are working on his strength now in hopes that when next year comes around he will the starter again. We have him at home for another 5 -6 years so I don’t have to worry about him going off just yet. I hope he knows that I am always available to him if he needs anything, just ask.

I promise both of you that I will continue to work at being a better step father. Someone you can call upon when you need something. It’s taking me a long time to get there but with your patience and teaching I will be what you need me to be.

My wish is to be:

• someone you can count on
• someone that will listen
• someone that can help solve your problems
• someone to share laughs with
• someone to comfort you during hard times
• someone to help you learn a difficult task
• someone to cry with…

I want to be there for you in any way you will take me.

I love you both.

Children need to fall to grow up

Situation:

2001 dot com bust. At contests2win.com, we had 2 months of cash left to survive. I was desperate. I knew I had a great idea and had to ride out this storm. So I assembled my core team and requested a meeting with Renuka Ramnath – then CEO of ICICI Venture – our principal VC

We met in the lobby of the Oberoi (now the Trident) – the sofa was small and so I was sitting facing Renuka with my team members standing.

I started mumbling about more money and rambled for a few minutes. Renuka looked at me, smiled and said ‘Alok, when we have children, they need to fall to grow up. As parents we can easily hold them but do not. Allowing them to fall is what is good for them’

That’s all she said. The message was clear. Fall. Stumble. Get hurt but get strong.

My team and I were shattered as we walked out. Yet something had been triggered inside.

Almost 10 years later, we are miles ahead of those horrid times, and that advice remains unbelievably hard to beat..

It's not about power

I loved this Sunday’s Gospel reading so much.

[Jesus and His disciples] came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,

He began to ask them,

“What were you arguing about on the way?”

But they remained silent.

They had been discussing among themselves on the way

who was the greatest.

Then He sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,

“If anyone wishes to be first,

he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

Taking a child, He placed it in the their midst,

and putting His arms around it, He said to them,

“Whoever receives one child such as this in My name, receives Me;

and whoever receives Me,

receives not Me but the One who sent Me.”

Mark 9:30-37

What struck me most was that Christ didn’t just pull in the poor child to stand before Him and the Apostles, but rather, He brought the child to Himself, “putting His arms around it.” The RSV translation expresses it as an even more personal and intimate action, thus:

And He took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in His arms, He said to them …

(For one thing, it refers to the child as a “him” and not an “it”!)

Today the image of Christ embracing and holding a child in His arms is sweet and often very sentimental.  But as our priest taught us today, it was a very significant gesture and a very significant message. In the society in which Jesus and the disciples lived, children were essentially nobodies. They had no rights and no inherent worth. They were completely dependent on others, and their care was generally left to women and/or slaves. For a man to take a random child, not even his own child, and embrace and hold the child, and to do so in the company of other men, would have been quite out of the ordinary.

The portrait that paints in my mind is not sweet and sentimental, but rather, compelling and challenging.  I see Christ holding the child lovingly and protectively, but looking out at us with a keen gaze and a gleam in His eyes that says, “This child is precious to Me… how are you going to treat him?”  (I tried in vain to find an image that matches the one in my head.)

Christ was doing something no other man would do. He was showing the Apostles a new way. A way of loving service even to the smallest, the poorest, and the weakest. Loving service, not power.  That is what He was demanding of them.  It’s what He demands of His disciples today as well, and especially of the successors of the Apostles, our bishops and priests.

Doesn’t this passage have so much to say to us today? I look around at our society and at the Church, and I see lots of people who really need to hear Christ’s message and see His example. There are plenty of people who regard the priesthood in terms of power that should be up for grabs for everybody. There are also lots of people who regard children as objects, as commodities, to be used or disposed of as desired. There is a belief that getting stuck with a child is one of the worst things that can happen to a person. Conception of a child is considered a highly disruptive and undesirable side-effect of sexual pleasure. Pregnancy and childbirth are considered crises–pregnancy as an illness, childbirth as a medical procedure. There are plenty of wealthy, healthy, young married couples who would rather have dogs than children. Or, at their most generous, will only have one or maybe two children.  In short, we regard the natural blessings of sexuality, fertility, and family-rearing as things over which we can, and must, exert our own power.

This is the world we live in.  It’s all about power and putting oneself first.  These attitudes are found within the Church as well as in society at large.  Basically it’s as if Christ never walked the earth, or never taught us how to live.  I don’t know about you, but I find it hard not to be depressed and discouraged by that!  For all the claims that we are so much better and more enlightened than our ancestors, we certainly haven’t lived up to it.  I say “we” because I’ve done my fair share of upholding those common attitudes.  I decided a few years ago that I can no longer support them.  I pray that I can make amends for them in this life (otherwise, I feel I shall have a long and severe season in Purgatory).

I pray that this Gospel passage got through to even a few people this Sunday, that it may prompt some serious examination of themselves and the world in which we live, and indeed that it may prompt some true and deep conversions.  And I pray that we who have heard it will do our best to carry it out into the world through our words, our actions, and our lifestyles.  We mustn’t let Christ’s life and message be in vain!

24-Hour LIVE Event for charity: water by Erin Blaskie

I’ll be hosting a very special LIVE & VIRTUAL event in September where your donations can earn you my services, products and expertise for free. The event will be held September 24-25 beginning at 2pm Eastern on the 24th.

Yep. You donate to charity: water via my cause page and I’ll make sure you are awarded with more than just feeling good about making a difference.

It’s a win-win-win. I get to help out my favorite charity by expanding their message to all of you, you get to help you the charity by donating, I get to help you out by providing you with whatever level of service matches your donation and you get to utilize those services to move your business forward.

Here are some of the things we’re going to do in the 24-hour LIVE event:

• Take you along the journey of creating an info-product in one hour (you can create one too)!
• We will have special guests and co-hosts
• We will have bonus offers from friends, colleagues and partners of mine
• Offer on the spot business advice, strategy and savviness
• Play some awesome music DJed by some cool guest DJs
• And more… We’ll announce more details as the event grows nearer…

Donate and you can receive in return:

• Free strategy session with Erin Blaskie
• Free product valued at over $100
• Work with Erin for a day (virtually)
• Get every single product in our library
• and more…

Visit my event page and learn more here.

Or, jump to the cause and donate now!

Erin Blaskie is certainly making an impact on the entrepreneurial world she is a girl who is having a passionate love affair with Internet Marketing. To find out more and Build and Grow Your Online Business you can visit her website at http://www.marketerschoice.com/app/?Clk=3271921

Cooky vs. Cookie

As a kid, I loved to flip through my family’s cookbooks, especially the ones made just for children, dreaming about what it would be like to make the exotic-sounding dishes inside. I was always quite shy about asking my parents to buy the ingredients for fancy cakes or elaborate main dishes, but I’d find myself scouring the cupboards to scrounge up most of the ingredients for a side here, a snack there, or my interpretation thereof.

My scavengeresque style and reluctance to try the most complicated recipes certainly carry on today — you’ll see that most of my cooking involves only a few main ingredients and few elements, other than seasonings, that are unfamiliar even to the most basic of American meat-centric home cooks. I love to read about foreign and fabulous eating and preparation, but I’m still a little bit scared to put my money, and my skills, where my imagination and, well, my mouth are.

I loved that this book provided me with my very own set of measuring spoons. What a geek!

Today I was reminded of one of the classics of my, and my mother’s, childhood, the “Betty Crocker’s Cook Book for Boys and Girls”/ “Betty Crocker New Boys and Girls Cook Book.” In addition to the literary-oriented “Wond’rous Fare,” which grabbed recipes straight from the pages of children’s classics (and from which I never made a single dish), and Klutz Press’ silly “Kids Cooking: A Very Slightly Messy Manual,” among about a dozen others, I read every single recipe, top to bottom, imagining the dishes and the cooking process as though it held the mystery a scene straight out of a witch’s den.

None of my classmates looked like these kids.

One of the great elements of the Betty Crocker manual was that it included a panel of uppity-looking kid testers whose comments guided you throughout the book, when mom’s recollection of the time she made that castle cake  just wasn’t enough for me.

Well, it turns out a writer for Gourmet had some of the same questions little me did about this book. A true child of the ’90s, quite a bit younger than the writer of this piece, I didn’t trust a boy with such an uppity crew cut to tell me the merits of things like milk with maple syrup in it (perfect for lumberjacks) or a loaf of canned ham with pineapple on top. Read Missy Ketchum’s tale of the kid testers for more information.

Look, a cake shaped like something! A "salad" made of canned fruit and raisins! Something, anything covered in heavy cream!

Curious about the title? It was a question that plagued me for some time. Older cookbooks seem divided on whether the singular of everybody’s favorite hand-held chocolate chip snack was “cooky” or “cookie.” In the days when our family’s copy of the Betty Crocker children’s book was printed, it was “cooky” for one, “cookies” for more. Just goes to show you can’t always trust an artificial homemaker to be grammatically infallible, I guess.

Oh my goodness. Please don't look in the upper-right corner.

See, I told you there were bunnies made of canned pears. Would YOU eat that crap? No. But it sounded so nifty and quaint and unusual to me, I still kind of wondered what it’d be like to make it.

Newborn Portraits

Recently I watched a video about a photographer named John Ridgeway who specializes in newborn portraiture. He has an amazing gift for working with babies! After watching him work, I really wanted to try some newborn photography (I really have not done much). As luck would have it, one of my existing clients just had a baby, so borrowed him as a test subject. He was very cooperative and stayed sound asleep for most of the shoot. The was a great learning experience for me and I think the images came out pretty nice.

Madden is 12 days old in these pictures. I washed some of the color out of this shot in Photoshop to give it a kind of sleeping-on-a-cloud look.

Look as his cute little fingers!

I thought jeans would be a fun alternative to the traditional stack-of-towels baby portrait.

He woke up long enough to give a collossal yawn, and then he was out again!

A great big Thank You to the Fields family for letting me do this!

Hole-uh-day!

Today is my first day of this 10-day holiday! I don’t think I’m gonna anywhere outside this J-world. Probably somewhere near here. Tonight my dad would come here, yeay! Tomorrow my dearest cousins from Surabaya would come here, too, yeay! Ah, I really wanna watch G-Force. Anybody wanna watch it with me?

Ah, this morning I watched my TV, and I learned a very interesting fact: the ability for a person to know what his opponent cannot see appears when he is around 3 years old. In this show, several children were asked to play the game of hiding a candy and let the other person to guess in which hand the candy was hidden. Kids under 3 years old can’t play such a game. Most of them just put the candy in whatever hand in front of the opponent’s eyes that the opponent obviously know where the candy was hidden. Some of them even ate their candies. (People, make your own conclusion.)

Recently, I’ve been listening to Boys Like Girls, Panic! at the Disco, and Shayne Ward. One of my recent favorite song is Boys Like Girls’ “Go.” I love the lyric. Check this out:

Go Boys Like Girls

Little change of the heart, little light in the dark,

Little hope that you just might find your way out of here.

Cause you’ve been hiding for days, wasted and wasting away,

But I got a little hope today you’ll face your fears.

Yea I know it’s not easy, I know it’s hard,

Follow the lights to this city.

Get up and go

Take a chance and be strong,

Or you could spend your whole life holding on,

Don’t look back just go.

Take a breath move along,

Or you could spend your whole life holding on,

You could spend your whole life holding on.

Believe the tunnel can end, believe your body can mend,

Yea I know you could make it through cause I believe in you.

So lets go put up a fight, lets go make everything alright,

Go on and take a shot go give it all you got.

Oh yea I know it’s not easy, I know that it’s hard,

Know that it’s not always pretty.

Get up and go

Take a chance and be strong,

Or you could spend your whole life holding on,

Don’t look back just go.

Take a breath move along,

Or you could spend your whole life holding on,

You could spend your whole life holding on.

Don’t wanna wake up to the telephone ring,

Are you sitting down I need to tell you something,

Enough is enough you can stop waiting to breath,

And don’t wait up for me.

Get up and go,

Take a chance and be strong,

Or you could spend your whole life holding on.

Don’t look back just go,

Take a breath move along,

Or you could spend your whole life holding on.

Get up and go, take a chance and be strong,

Or you could spend your whole life holding on,

Don’t look back just go.

Take a breath move along,

Or you could spend your whole life holding on,

You could spend your whole life holding on.

Don’t spend your whole life holding on.

Source: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/b/boys_like_girls/go.html

Another song that I love recently is Eminem’s Beautiful. I love this part: “But I’ve already told you my whole life story, not just based on my description. ‘Cause where you see it, from where you’re sitting, it’s probably 110% different.” Yes, Miss Understanding is like a goddess who always flies throughout the world searching for new preys every second of her seemingly immortal life. (How dramatic. What an exaggeration.) Been reading Homer’s “The Iliad.” No wonder the word “goddess” is ringing in my mind. At school, I also learn Latin, by the way. Pretty interesting. One of my favorite Latin quote: “Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem.” (Horace)  It means, “Remember when life’s path is steep to keep your mind even.” (Translation taken from this site.)

dear humanity, i love you & happy holiday.

JOIN THE SHELTER TEAM AT WALK FOR THE WAY

The Shelter for Abused Women & Children’s Shelter Striders will join hundreds of caring individuals from across Collier County for the United Way’s fourth annual Walk for the Way on Saturday, September 26, starting at 8:00 a.m. at North Collier Regional Park, 15000 Livingston Road, Naples. The Shelter Striders join teams from across the area walking to support United Way funded social service agencies dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families in Collier County.

Team Check-In begins promptly at 8:00 a.m. with the Walk starting at 9:00 a.m. The day’s events conclude with a festival following the Walk that features fun activities for all ages. Each year, the United Way of Collier County helps support more than two dozen nonprofit agencies provide life-transforming services to more than 100,000 Collier County residents – touching the lives of one of every three children, women and men who reside and work here. To learn more about the United Way and Walk for the Way, please email: uwofcc1@aol.com, or visit www.unitedwayofcolliercounty.org The Shelter for Abused Women & Children is proud to be a United Way agency. To support or join The Shelter Striders Team, please call The Shelter at 239.775.3862, ext. 235, or email LSantos@naplesshelter.org

Being Seven is so Last Year

This is serious business.

As some of you know, my daughter recently turned eight. Although I had to abandon my initial plan of having a Bollywood-themed affair (next year?), I still think I did quite well channeling my inner party planner. Well, except for the part where al the girls had to wash the make-up off their faces, and I accidentally licked cold cream off my hand. I thought it was frosting. Who knew that stuff would burn that much? However, I managed to sneak into the bathroom and spit, spit, spit; I don’t think anyone noticed at the time.

Of course, now that the festivities are over, the thank you notes have been written, and all that’s left is a few sad deflated balloons, we are faced with the reality of having an eight-year-old running around the house. As usual, she changes her colors the minute she changes her age; there is no slow and careful process. She is eight and she will behave as eight. Now. Immediately. If you want a grace period, go somewhere else. It’s time for us to reassess her behavior, and see what we’re dealing with.

We’ve noticed eight-year-olds aren’t very funny. Life is serious, and filled with rules and conventions. They can’t just run into the playground and do whatever comes to mind: they have to stand around for ten minutes first, discussing what is going to happen to who, and which things are not allowed. They can’t wear the blue dress today because, it is Tuesday, and they only wear that dress on Mondays or Thursdays. They agree with their friends that everyone will wear a pink hair-thingy to school tomorrow; never mind that they’re not sure they have one: they will tear apart the house to find something pink to stick in their ponytails. They are about as flexible as Queen Victoria.

During recess, they form secret clubs with complicated by-laws, and membership is not optional. Officers are elected, and parameters are set; it is as if they are founding a miniature country, and they spend so much time talking about it, they hardly get to the actual playing. Apparently, the eight-year-olds are in the planning stage.

Usually, when I pick Isabella up from school, I ask how school went. I want to hear about homework, whether she learned anything new, if she ate all her lunch. I am rethinking this. Lately, asking about her day is like answering the phone and finding out it’s someone you don’t want to talk to. I am bombarded with endless rules and regulations, descriptions of the latest secret society and which kids were elected as leaders. The worst part is, I’m expected to remember all the details lest the world comes to an end.

And here I thought I was off the hook for a while; organizing a fabulous birthday party, getting her cool presents, and all those cupcakes: where is my afterglow? Shouldn’t she be talking about this great party for at least another couple of weeks? So I decide to rebel. She may be consumed by day-to-day playground politics; I am going to ignore it and think about that party some more. Once a day, I plan to stare off into space and utter the words: “Wasn’t that party great?” That way, I’ll get some credit, even if I have to give it myself. With a little luck, she’ll be so consumed by tomorrow’s playground board meeting; she won’t even notice how desperate I am.

FIf you enjoyed this article, you may also like When Hamsters attack, How to talk like a teenager long before your time, Backseat driving at its finest,  or What children do behind your back

Looking to partner with Co-Authors that Make a Difference by Stephen T. Jones

We are looking to Co-Author this book with people and organizations from all walks of life.

 

I wrote the 1st chapter to a book  “A Simple Guide to Making a Difference: Making the world a better place by being YOU.” http://asimpleguidemdcom.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/asimpleguidemd-com-ebook.pdf

Here is a sample of a book we co-authored

http://www.hiphopsaveslives.org/PDF/MakingADifference.pdf

Easy 3 step process

1) We will check out your program asking some questions to bring out your vision.

2) You answer from you heart don’t try to be perfect (Get whole organization involved if possible)

3) We edit and sell through our network splitting profits 50%/50%

If this sounds good shoot me an e-mail letting us know you are in we will send you the questions.

Thanks you so much,

 

Stephen T. Jones

Steve@ASimpleGuideMD.com

Lil J, the Massai Worrier

One of the most memorable moments of my 2009 trip to Kenya this summer was with a street kid named Jackson! I’ve been slacking off on writing the story, but since I took the time and wrote it for MH to post on our article @ Khaleejesque, I’ve copied and pasted what was published there :p Enjoy!

Dala, this is for you

” In 2009’s trip we meet a 10-year old street-kid named Jackson on the stairs of the Mombasa Youth Counseling Center (MYCC). He was sitting and talking with the security guard when we walked in the other day. He spoke very little English but spoke Swahili and Massai fluently, so we had to speak to him with our some-what ok Swahili or get help from MYCC youth to translate for us. Jackson came to Mombasa on a truck on his own about a year ago. He ran away from home, for reasons we couldn’t figure out. Victor, an MYCC youth coordinator, provided a safe and clean shelter for Jackson as he allowed him to stay at the center. We asked Jackson how we can help him achieve what he’s aspiring for and what it is that he needs. Little did we know we’d get a surprising answer! He replied without any hesitation or thought: “Mimi nataka kwenda shule” which translates: “I want to go to school.” We were very happy and amazed. We were expecting an answer along the lines of: I want food, clothes, toys, money, etc. But for him to come and say I want to be in school and get educated was awesome. With the help of Victor and searching the Internet/local ads to find a new home/organization that would take care of Jackson and support him throughout his education, we were fortunate to find WEMA, a center for rescuing and sheltering street-children. Jackson was very happy and excited we helped him by finding WEMA and was very grateful for sponsoring him to go to school. To see how excited he got and how he quickly he packed all his belongings in a plastic bag, rushing out with the WEMA counselor was definitely a memorable moment we all will not forget.”

Our toxic drinking water and the Clean Water Act of 1972

I had a blog post about genetically modified organisims (GMOs) all ready to go,  but then I got  Sunday’s New York Times (September 13, 2009) with a front page story about rising incidences of  violations of the Clean Water Act in the U.S.:  more than half a million violations in the last five years alone.  I had been keeping track of reports of various types of pollution which come to my attention – every week on average, sometimes daily,  there is at least one article in my local paper which gets my blood boiling. Today’s article is about the widespread feminization of fish in American waters, a situation experts see as a wider problem of endocrine disruptive chemicals in our environment.  A few weeks ago I was tempted to write about the 60 Minutes segment that appeared on August 27, 2009.  As 60 Minutes says,  “this is a story about recycling – about how your best intentions to be green can be channeled into an underground sewer that flows from the United States and into the wasteland.”   You can read the story here about a place in China “where you can’t breathe the air or drink the water, a town where the blood of the children is laced with lead”.

But it was today’s article that pushed me over the edge, because we have been working so hard  to remind  people why treating the water used in textile processing is critically important!  People still think using “organic cotton” or “organic anything” results in an organic fabric, when the difference is as much as that between crude oil and silky microfiber.  The textile industry remains the number 1 industrial polluter of fresh water on the planet, and water is a precious resource that we’re having to spread among more and more people.  We can’t afford to keep discharging effluent filled with toxic chemicals that may cause grave damage to us years down the line.  The Clean Water Act regulates 100 pollutants and the Safe Drinking Water Act limits 91 chemicals in our tap water – that’s  191 chemicals in all.  Small potatoes when the list of chemicals used routinely by industry tops 100,000 – but it’s better than nothing.  Now we find even that protection may be illusory.

The article in question is part of a series that the New York Times is running called “Toxic Waters”, which examines the worsening pollution in American waters, and the response by regulators.  Today’s article, “Clean Water Laws Neglected, at a Cost”, by Charles Duhigg, is based on the hundreds of thousands of water pollution records which the Times obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, and the national database of violations they compiled from that information.   This database is more comprehensive than those maintained by any state or the E.P.A.  Click here to see the entire report online (where you can also find any violations which may have occurred in your community).

They found:

• that an estimated 1 in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails to meet federal health benchmarks.
• that 40% of the nation’s community water systems violated the Safe Drinking Water Act at least once during the past year – violations that ranged from failing to maintain paperwork to allowing carcinogens into tap water.
• that more than 23 million people received drinking water that violated a health-based standard.
• that the number of violations is growing significantly.
• and that only 3% of Clean Water Act violations resulted in fines or other significant punishments.

Critics say that the E.P.A. and the states have dropped the ball.  “Without oversight and enforcement, companies will use our lakes and rivers as dumping grounds – and that’s exactly what is apparently going on,” says Representative James L. Oberstar, from Minnesota.  But regulators say they’re overwhelmed, citing the increase in workloads and dwindling resources.

And there are those who say nothing will happen until there is some public outrage.  So please read the story and let’s have some outrage!

We need to take care of the scare resources we have.  We’re running out of water for everybody, and can’t afford to squander it.  Does anybody else get uneasy when you read something like this investor’s recommendation:   “A world that’s running out of clean, dependable supplies of water located where and when farmers need it makes irrigation one of the trends I’d like to invest in.”

So when you read about the jeans factory in Lesotho which supplies denim to Levi’s and the Gap which is leaking untreated wastewater, dyed deep blue and polluted with chemicals, into the  local river – and when you read that most of the children living there have chest infections and skin irritations – don’t think it’s a world away and you’re safely protected by municipal water treatment facilities.  The New York Times findings give us scant reason to depend on our local water treatment facilities to protect us from these insults to our ecosystem.  That factory in Lesotho is spewing the effluent into your groundwater and it circulates in your water system.  Apparently that kind of egregious flaunting of the law is going on in West Virginia (and other states) too.

Note:  I live in Seattle, where the Seattle Times gets a feed from the New York Times; often a prominent story in the New York Times is displayed on the first page (or at least in the first section) of the  Seattle Times.  But this article was not carried by the Seattle Times in any section, let alone the front page.

Respect U.S. Law?!

First posted July 2008

How long can a man continue screaming

“EQUALITY-FAMILY-CHILDREN-SECURITY”

Before he loses his freakin’ mind?

Case Study Me = 12-16 weeks TOPS (July 2008-November 2008).

How do Heterosexuals expect the Q community to respect any U.S. law when so many of our nation’s laws have been used against us and the FAMILY we love?

Consider how a “Normal” Heterosexual Man would react to being:

• ARRESTED FOR MAKING LOVE TO HIS SPOUSE in the privacy of his own home? (sodomy laws were in effect until as recently as 2003).
• ARRESTED FOR BEING IN A BAR? (think Stonewall…not that long ago).
• DENIED TO SEE HIS DYING WIFE of 20 years during her last moments on this earth? (present day).
• DENIED TO SEE HIS CHILD of 9 years in the hospital after a life-threatening accident? (present day adoption issues).
• EVICTED FROM THE HOUSE HE BUILT by his deceased wife’s family and then charged back rent…after a 30-year marriage? (present day).
• PERMANENTLY SEPARATED FROM HIS CHILD AFTER HIS WIFE DIES – OK, many parents would be tasting blood by this point

I could offer many more scenarios, but suffice it to say that your average heterosexual man would NOT stand for these affronts to himself and family. I seriously doubt he would pay taxes to a government that has consistently treated him and his loved ones as less than human; he would probably use force or violence if needed to be able to live freely and protect the family he loves. And this violence would be “justified”, even celebrated. “Pride-Glory-Honor”.

 

 

 

Article I. ALL men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.

 

 

Some say we should be patient and wait 20-30 years for the laws to change. I can’t. I won’t. I lost my patience when I lost everything, including my ability to work, due to issues related directly to an unconstitutional legal discrimination. P.T.S.D. resulting from discrimination. P.T.S.D. resulting from HATE.

Until all LGBT Families are included in ARTICLE 1 above, we have no obligation to pay taxes while we wait for Society and Government to catch up to Morality and Common Decency.

Family Is Home.

Home Is Where The Heart Is.

There’s No Place Like Home.

Home Sweet Home.

 

 

 

If I do not VALUE YOU or YOUR WORTH as a human being, nor do I value your Family and Children and their worth as Human Beings (some LGBT folks do have children), why in the WORLD would I think you deserve adoption rights, hate crime protection, a modicum of respect in the military, or discrimination protection in your job? You are practically SUB-HUMAN by most legal standards.

Yet many of us in the Q community politely smile and submit to an Internal Revenue Service, sanctioning the very discrimination we are whining about.

We need to BELIEVE we TRULY DO DESERVE the civil rights we fantasize about; maybe if we start ACTING in a way that demonstrates that belief our fellow Americans and the U.S. government will start paying attention.

Today we have state-by-state public relations campaigns and fundraisers, gambling on the hopes we will purchase enough PR to “win” equal CIVIL rights. Evan Wolson predicts 30 years for federal marriage equality; 30 years of fundraisers?!

My own tax revolt started in 2005 because I simply could not continue being tax-compliant as a SUB-American. Now it’s moot since I am no longer working, but I know I will resume it when and if I ever work again.

One adage I did pick up as a self-employed music educator and performer, and it’s a wise one for business and for personal life:

“You Teach People How To Treat You”.

Tax-Compliance confirms

“It’s OK to be treated as a

 

 

SUB-American”.

==========================

UPDATE – January 19, 2009

REVISED – September 14, 2009

Such a different world now since July 17th, 2008.

I invested in a studio…again…and now sit among it’s ghosts in my living room. Anyone wanna buy 100’s of dollars of children’s piano music? Wrist ribbons? A giant floor grand staff?

And we need to invent a word for when a person simultaneously giggles and cries, as I do when I re-read of my TAX WITHHOLDING days above, you know, when I was actually MAKING an income and could resist federal income tax.

I would normally feel guilty and apologize to all WA state tax-payers who support me, but then again, it is the stoopid-ass-government’s INDIFFERENCE and LACK OF CONCERN about Queers that creates these kinds of AVOIDABLE hardships again and again and again………….underscore AVOIDABLE. Remember – straight people avoid these hardships with family rights while we are denied the same family rights.

I do hope that those who vote REJECT on REF-71 also realize how their own tax dollars will go to faggots, lesbos, and trannies (oh my) ….specifically because of their ignorance, hatred, and need to control others in the name of religion.

Heterosexuals, please note – YOU DO NOT KNOW of these hardships.

Your “special” marriage laws PROTECT YOU from the majority of them.

We experience them daily.

WE DO NOT COUNT legally….NOR do our children, and THAT is reason enough to REVOLT against the I.R.S.

 

Personally, I would not blame a gal or guy AT ALL for exercising her or his 2nd Amendment Rights when it comes to defending one’s family and preventing the federal government from imposing unfair wage garnishments, unfair liens, or an unfair imprisonment.

LGBTQ’s can only take so much, and the final straw was last year.

INSTITUTIONS NEED TO

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE

ABUSE THEY INFLICT !

 

The Fast and Furious

 

Weekend’s over, back to work.  This morning was Carter’s first craft/art class.  He had a good time.  The expression on his face when he presented his macaroni and glitter rectangle? Priceless.  Cullen slept the whole hour Carter was gone.  My expression? Priceless.

This morning I waved goodbye to the custom high chair cover that haunted me for the past two weeks.  Not that it was a heavy laden task, just one  that you drag your feet doing.  I liked the pattern so much, I made myself one.  Enjoy Emily : ) 

custom high chair cover

So now onto the next custom bag, or the Kathybag.  I need to find out the little girl’s name, but mom’s name is Kathy.  I selected the denim and started the breakdown part.  Ideas are swirling around in my head of how to create this for the cute little kindergarten-er that will tote it in the end.  I love making stuff.  Once I get going I will post pics.

I hung out with my boys this morning.  we ate lunch al fresco- in the backyard.  Willie (see here ) held a vigil in hopes that we’d share our lunch but no such luck for fat willie.  Instead, Cullen pulled his ears and drooled on his head.  Afterwards,I went inside to get a washcloth and dump dishes when I heard shrieks of laughter from the back door.  Cullen and Carter were having a good time, apparently.  When I walked back out I found the patio soaked ( sixty seconds-I was gone SIXTY seconds), including Cullen, his boppy and our blanket.  Carter was laughing and snorting holding the hose.  Cullen was squealing, waving and kicking arms and legs.  Sigh.

Sixty seconds.

 

Oh, one more thing.  Saturday’s weigh in, -.6.  Going back in the right direction.  Five pounds away from my 10% goal. 

Zimbabwe's AIDS Orphans

“Nearly 400 adults die from HIV-related deaths every day in Zimbabwe … Per capita, Zimbabwe has more orphans than any country in the world, and school enrollment is falling. “- James Elder, UNICEF

I came across this interesting ePhoto Journal on BBC.com! It’s sad, but I think its important that more and more people are aware of the consequences that HIV is having on humans around the globe, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa. I can speak of experience when I volunteered for 10 weeks in rural/remote areas of Tanzania teaching about HIV/AIDS.

I sure hope we can find a solution to this killer soon!

Southern Africa: Story Behind the Eyes

Growing up as a kid in Texas, I remember trick-or-treating for UNICEF, an organization that helps at -risk children in developing countries. We collected donations instead of candy. Going to school in Nova Scotia following high school, I organized a 40-mile walk-a-thon to benefit UNICEF. Only three of us completed the forty miles. I only remember dehydration and an emergency room visit upon finishing. The rest is a blur. I have no recollection, what-so-ever, of how much we earned for our efforts. Probably not much.

All that seems so long ago. UNICEF never went away. At-risk children never went away.

Perhaps I lost sight of the cause once my own life got complicated.

I’m looking at it now though. My daughter’s passion for children orphaned by the AIDs pandemic focused my attention again.

Girls dressed in Sunday best.

According to UNICEF:

“About 29,000 children under the age of five –  21 each minute – die every day, mainly from preventable causes.”

Boys in the bush.

The UNICEF website cites frightening statistics for the southern part of Africa:

“The number of children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS is projected to reach 25 million by the end of the decade, 18 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa. This, along with only modest progress fighting malaria, means the threats facing child survival are as grave as ever.”

I’m just now researching the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for 2015. Yes, I know. I haven’t been paying attention.

1. End Poverty and Hunger
2. Universal Education
3. Gender Equality
4. Child Health
5. Maternal Health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS
7. Environmental Sustainability
8. Global Partnership

Kids on street in Zambia

Goal 6, combatting HIV/AIDS, directly relates to my daughter’s passion for the alarming number of children orphaned by the great killer.  Projections point to 18 million parentless children in Sub-Saharan Africa by next year. These children must assume the parental role of finding food and caring for their siblings, forcing many to drop out of school.

In South Africa, the statistics on the number of individuals, of all ages, living with HIV/AIDs — simply staggering.

This girl's got spunk!

Everywhere we went during our time in South Africa, the topic came up. Parents are dying. If family members aren’t available to care for the children, the social services steps in. But often, the children slip through the cracks because their parents never informed the schools of their illness. The children simply stop coming to school. As we learned from our interview with the school principal in Soweto Township, she often serves as a detective/social worker at times, trying to determine where the child is, once he disappears from class.

I really started this blogpost to show you the faces of the children we met. Somehow, I felt compelled to add a bit about their world. I don’t know their individual stories to share with you, only the aggregate.

Just look into their eyes. I’ll let the children speak for themselves.

Fighting for the shot

South Africa school uniform

Simply gorgeous

I'm getting a HUGE hug!

Now THAT's a pose!

Such a tiny one.

He elbowed everyone to get near me.

Hopeful, yet measured

My daughter is taking a pic of me taking a pic...

Best friends

Full of promise

Not sure of me...

She never once smiled

Play buddies

Thumbs up

He wanted a "sweetie."

She's not sure about me yet.

How do you know if a photo is good?

I’ve Tweeted under one guise or another now for about a year but recently I dropped it as a socialising tool and more of a marketing tool.  It is however impossible, in my opinion, to Tweet without meeting like minded individuals that express a passion on a subject with little effort, that is in this case, photography.

It is one such individual that set me the mother of all questions.  Now I’m not totally convinced that I am the best person to answer this question, so I’ll set the ball rolling and by way of Tweeting, Commenting or even blogging about this post, let’s see if we can’t answer the following!

To make sure everyone understand’s, I am no art critic, nor am I a photography impresario, I just know what I like and I guess the basis of that lies in the basic principles of photography.  When I look at a photograph I ask myself, is the subject appropriately lit (i.e is it exposed correctly)?  It’s important that I try and understand what the photographer is trying to do with the photograph in all aspects but it’s the lighting that provides focus to a subject and mood or emotion to the frame.

Now I blog about my own work in general, I certainly don’t do tutorials, I don’t have the patience and there are a hundred and one blogs and websites out there that you’ll find ramblings on the principles of photography so I’ll gloss over things like focus, colour etc because they are all equally important in the context of the photograph.

Actually that last point is key in my opinion, is everything in context?  There are rules but once you know them and understand them, breaking them can add extra dynamic to the end results.  If a photograph is completely out of focus it doesn’t make it bad as long as it’s in context.

There is a reason behind every photograph that was ever taken, I challenge anybody to say otherwise but when you ask if a photograph should have meaning, to me it’s in the eye of the beholder.  Take a picture of a mother holding a new born child.  To the mother, father, the family it freezes a very special moment in time for all posterity and can be incredibly personal.  Post the same photo on Flickr and everyone will experience something different, just check out the comments people make.  I think you can take a photograph and it mean nothing to you, I think with some types of photography its important that you feel something or else the photograph won’t convey the appropriate meaning (i.e. Wedding photography).

Is there such thing as a bad photograph?  Well sorry to end this article on a bum note, or have I?  Even the worst photograph in the world can’t get it all wrong.  Never delete a photograph until you have learnt what it is that went wrong or your client didn’t like.  Every click provides potential learning material, OK you might not post it on Flickr or your blog but take time to review your photographs, check the histogram, RAW data here you will find invaluable information!

Thanks to @al2615 for the inspiration for the article, please take time to click his name and follow him.  You can also see his photostream here on Flickr!

[Via http://ajfarrimond.wordpress.com]

Shopping Rendezvous (super long post)

I don’t know why I keep getting smses telling me here sale there sale? Can someone tell me ah? Do you also get these promotion smses? Ok ok..stupid question..don’t have to be a genius to guess the answer. I should be Laundryamah aka Shopperamah.

I thought after 31 August the shopping season has ended..but nope, obviously it hasn’t. There’s the Raya sale now…so now I have bought enough for Christmas & also the coming Chinese New Year…shoes included, of course for the kids only larrr…

Pumpkin Patch (unfortunately this is not a paid post!) was having special relocation sale at the Gardens. So after picking Kylie up from school then off we went to pick up Kieran from tuition. I packed his clothes in the morning and told him to shower in tuition class, well planned leh..but Kylie had to pee in her pants so I had to shower her too. Tuition teacher was kind enough to allow us to use her bathroom but then do you think she dare to NOT let me meh?? grrrrrrr..I’m not over the last incident and there are new stories about her, always have screaming & shouting arguments with her husband in front of the kids..

After the super duper fast shower, we zoomed off as I was afraid to be caught in the after work “puasa” (fasting period for the Muslims) month horrendous jam. It was only 10 minutes past 5 and I was stuck on Jalan University all the way to Midvalley took us 1 hour when it was actually a less than 10 minute journey!! Kids were complaining they were hungry. The choice of restaurant of course went to Kieran and it was Canton i (I hate going there, no.1 It’s very expensive, No.2 The service is very slow No.3 The service is very bad No.4 The tableware is china and I panic all the time Kylie messes around with the china…). And this comment goes for all the outlets! Well, I guess I can say they are consistent! Why do we keep going there? The food is no doubt the closest to HK style and the kids love the wonton and dim sum…errmmm so do I!!

Dinner was slow despite the fact that it was only 6.30pm with only less than 10 tables occupied. Kylie was a riot as usual, had to warn her so many times and threatened her a million times and finally I had to whack her with chopsticks! Kieran was good throughout and finished his food. However, I have to finish Kylie’s share!

After dinner it was straight to harvesting Pumpkins at the Patch… Bought more t shirts and bottoms for Kylie and also Kieran, plus a t shirt each for my nephew and niece, all in 8 pieces for only RM250.75!! They were all 50% plus additional 15% as I bought more than 4 pieces. Good deal leh..

When I was packing the new clothes into the new clothes box (to keep clothes that are still too big and for use later.. ), I realised I have bought this same pink pants (above) during the August sales! So I have to take this back either later today or tomorrow…and this means…MORE shopping!!

After my harvest at the Patch, I proceeded to Isetan since there were special weekend Raya Sales! Bought 2 more t shirts from Poney for Kylie at 70% off. I don’t remember Poney offering such high discounts before..max ony 50% off….

The kids were playing with the lego toys and I had to scream for them to come try these beauties…

Osh Kosh shoes at RM69 each pair! A steal right??? The biggest size is just right with about 2 cm space for Kieran, hopefully he can still fit the shoes by CNY next year! Kylie has better size choices, so I bought at least 3 sizes bigger!! Kiasuism at its max was practised here!

On top of the kids stuff, I bought bed linen again..yes O-GAIN! But hor, how could I resist the offer? 400thread count full set, comforter cover plus bedsheet plus  2 pillow cases at RM180! Warao…cheap leh…but I had to buy the matching bolster cover at RM26.70 even after 70% discount! Should have left it out and just use a white cover which I already have..but then again..must have matching matching ones right?????? Urggghhhh..all the excuses I have for shopping!

So after the loot, I still wanted to take a peek at the shoes section and it was “buka puasa” (breaking fast) time and it was soooo quiet. I had to look around for someone to serve me. He disappeared into the store for sooo long and came out with the wrong size! Then again off he went and he felt so bad and apologetic and softly told me that there were no more my size!! Uwahhhhhhhh…The kids were playing shoe sales man and Kylie as customer during the time I was trying out shoes.

Since I couldn’t get any shoes, off we went since I was tired also. Lugged my very heavy shopping loot down to the carpark and found a trolley. The moment I dropped the loot in the trolley, Kylie has to go pee! It was P2 ok..so I told Kieran to stand guard the trolley (mistake cos it should be quite risky to leave  a 8 year old kid alone in a quiet car park at basement 2 hor??) and hurried Kylie to the toilet.

After paying for the parking ticket, I walked out and suddenly heard Kieran calling out to me, “Mom, mom, mom…” I turned around and saw his face so worried.

K-”Mom, I left my toy at the place…”

Me-Aiya..forget it la..let’s go..

K-No…I want to get it back.. (eyes red swelled with tears by now)

Me-Where did you leave the toy?

K-There..the shoes there…

Me-Ok then you go back yourself and get it. Go up this escalator & then turn to your left (again very bad mom, but the loot was really heavy and I don’t want to lug them there again!) I repeated the directions at least 3 times..

After a while I saw him coming down, eyes all red and tears all welled up..

K-Mom, I can’t find the place..

Me-Did you turn to the right instead?

K-Yes..

Me-Aiyooo..ok ok let’s go

We rushed back towards Isetan and I told him to run ahead and get it while I wait outside. He finally found the toy and off we went to the carpark. Had to hurry as I already paid for the ticket before the running up and down happened. When we reached the car we were all drenched in sweat…gosh..we were totally beat..but Kieran was so relieved that he found his toy..

K-I asked one security guard but he couldn’t help me

Me-What did you ask him?

K-I asked him where was the place which was right in the end and has lots of shoes..

I laughed out loud and said that at both ends of the mall, meaning Isetan and Robinsons, have their ladies shoe sections at the same place but in opposite directions. No wonder the guard can’t help me la….

We had to go back to the office to pick up the maid so all 3 of us showered again as I knew the kids will fall asleep in the car on the way home. Good thing I still had clothes in the office while we always pack pyjamas for the kids for cases like this! Phew…what a long long day…

[Via http://laundryamah.wordpress.com]