Free Stuff

This post is just what it says it is, free stuff.

Pandora Radio - I found this by accident and love it, it is a radio station online that lets you pick an artist or a song and then creates a station based on that selection. You can make as many stations as you like and I have never received any type of email or solicitation from them.

Freecycle - this an organization run by people in your community. You fill out a short questionnaire, it might even be just one question, about why you want to join, then when you are accepted you are connected to people who are giving things away. You can even request things that you need. It was started to keep things out of the landfills, the whole 'one man's trash is another's treasure' philosophy.

Game Goo, Poptropica, and Starfall - these are all sites that Ashton and I use for school. Game Goo provides help for him in reading, Ash and Evie both read by remembering, instead of phonetically, his therapist recommended this site for him. Poptropica is a fun interactive game, he has to problem solve in order to 'save the day' for his character. The only thing is you have to be able to read, while the character's 'talk' to you, they do it in a comic book form bubble. It's fun, I even enjoy sitting with him, trying to solve the clues. Starfall I have mentioned before, this is a great site for your beginning reader, they sound things out loud so if he is having trouble with a word he can just click on it, and they will say it for him. This has levels from pre-k to 1st/ 2nd grade. We also use a math site called Math Fact Cafe that has different grade levels going up to 4th grade. There are math worksheets you can print out, flashcards you can do online, or you can customize your own worksheets. One more, this site lets you make a wordsearch puzzle, you can customize it as well.

Now here are a few things I found in an article which inspired this post. I have checked each website, but haven't actually tried them yet.

Silver Jewelry - this looked interesting I went and checked the site, it looks like they offer things for about 15 minutes each, but you can visit the site and see a preview of what's to come and they will email you when what you like is available. We'll see, now that my kids are getting girlfriends and such, it seems like an inexpensive way to impress them ;) The only thing you pay for is the shipping and handling ($6.99) The woman who wrote the article said she is allergic to nickel silver and they were great.
p.s. I just ordered a necklace for Evie, for Xmas, you get the pendant free, but the chain cost me $4 for a 16 inch one, so in all I paid $10.99 I'll let you know if it was worth it or not.


Free language lessons - I just signed up to take french, they email you weekly lessons, and at the end of it they send you a certificate.

Directory assistance - the article says instead of paying to get a number from 411, dial 1-800-free-411. The reason it's free is you listen to a 10 second ad before getting the number.

There are tons of stuff online you just have to look for it, kind of like thrift store shopping. Whenever I am looking for something I always type free in the search box.

Bragging Rights

A new musical instrument has joined our family, so exciting! Kenan joined band, and is now learning how to play the saxophone. So he can play saxophone, organ (by ear), as well as the piano, and he plays guitar and can sing (he even has a song recorded.) Evie can play the drums like a genius, and tries hard to play the bass and guitar, she even sings. Chad plays bass, guitar, dabbles on the drums, and sings. Ashton and I, scream and warble, respectively, along with the rest of them. It's like a Partridge family extravaganza. Anyone want to donate a bus?

Games, Games, All Day Long!

narration:

So the movie starts with a typical day at school, it just happens to be at the beach.

Then we move on to a restaurant Ash likes called the Thirsty Turtle, it has a few games to be played, they have great chicken wings the kids love, Ash had a burger as well, the kid can eat. The next day, Monday, was his birthday.

The theme of the day was 'all day long we play games', that's what he wanted

to do. Chad and I bought him some darts, Kenan got him a comic called Magic Pickle (Ashton loooves pickles), and Evie some posters, grandma and poppa, and Uncle Jimbo gave him,

gift certificates from Game Stop.

Off we headed to enjoy the day, first a little bowling, where Ashton scored spares and a strike, but alas Dad was still the big winner of the day,then

the arcade, next to spend some dough at

Game Stop, and finally where he really wanted to be at Grandma's.

(I think it has to do with the fact that she lets him play games,

watch t.v., and drink soda all simultaneously) all things that are rare at our house,

but "that's what grandma's are for." Ashton and Kenan tried out all the games that he bought at Game Stop while

Chad decorated a Darth Vader birthday cake, and the rest of us made dinner and such. Then on to the traditional

face shoved in the cake, where the newly turned 15 year old was just a bit too big for the old guys.

All in all a great day, Ash is such a fun kid to be around.

Our girl turned 11!

and if you are interested in all the pictures and the story of our day

go here

Evie's bday pictures

Stuff

I have been in a shopping mood,

there are a billion birthdays for me to buy for right now, and back to school shopping, well it had me in a craze.We, as Americans, are conditioned to want things. If your sad, angry, upset, mad, well just do a little shop therapy.

The thing is, the amount of stuff we need doesn't come close to equaling the stuff we want. We are conditioned to think that we have to have these things. When in fact they are really just things. My wonderful husband taught me this lesson, oh, about 10 years ago. I, personally like to buy clothes. It's my weakness, I love fashion. Being in the position we are as a single income family, I can not reasonably go out and indulge this weakness. Oh yeah, every once in a while I break down and splurge on something, but not nearly as much as I want to. Sure I could go out and get a job then I would be a little more justified right? Wrong. In the end it's just stuff, and the time away from my family would not be worth the payoff. I had to put in order the things that were essential to our lives and the things that I just wanted to have. The list is a lot smaller than you might think. I see people in stores all the time promising to buy their child something if they just behave. First of all this is wrong on so many levels. Yoo hoo, your kid is supposed to behave!!!(-but that is another subject all together). What they are teaching their kids is that if you are good then you get a treat. That carries on into adulthood, how many times have you said to yourself "I deserve this." and follow with the excuse as to why. I've done it. The problem with this is, we don't need it.

***

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every mans need, but not every man's greed." -Gandhi

***

That's just it, we are too greedy. We are hurting our environment with our greed and want. We are using up resources that can not be replenished. We are not trying to figure out other options. We sit back with our tongues hanging out in the midst of our treasures hoping someone else will fix the problem. Wake up people, your knight in shining armor is not coming. We have to make conscious decisions and then face the consequences when we don't. The only thing is everyone is paying while we dilly-dally.

Do me a favor and take 20 minutes out of your day and check out this video (thanks Jenna).

It is called The Story of Stuff, it details where all of our stuff comes from and the why behind our economy. I found it interesting. I think you will too.

click here

the fourth

had a good time

went to the beach in the morning

(no pics of that seeing as how some people can't handle it)

left the beach and got supplies, i.e. a big ass bottle of vodka and an arsenal of fireworks

(do we know how to have a good time or what?)

our "adopted son" Joe was with us

stayed at home and blew stuff up

the end.

except for this: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5534913584395455608&hl=en

Decisions, Decisions

I'm sitting here this morning thinking on all the decisions we have to make each and every single day. The decision to get up and go, or hit your snooze button one more time. The decision to eat a healthy breakfast, or to just have coffee. What to wear, how to get where you are going. Endless decisions everyday. Small ones, important ones, life changing ones, meaningless-but-to-you decisions.

I saw in the news yesterday that on May 14th, 2008 the U.S. government made the decision to recognize the polar bear as a "threatened" species, now if I am not mistaken isn't that one step away from "endangered"?

Well, yesterdays news was to inform us that the Bush administration made a decision, they are taking new steps to secure oil for us greedy Americans. The fish and wildlife services auctioned off $2.5 billion worth of contracts to seven oil companies, only Shell and Conoco-Phillips were named specifically. These oil companies are going to search for oil off the NW coast of Alaska. These seven companies were given free reign to 'annoy and potentially harm' the polar bears and pacific walruses in their searches. Over 10% of the polar bears living in the Arctic live in this area. Just when you think we are almost rid of this idiot.

This mornings news was equally disturbing, the first headline I clicked on was 'Police kill man who beat child to death'. Apparently on a stretch of road in CA an elderly couple saw a pick up truck pulled to the side of the road facing the wrong way, as they drove by they stopped. Why? because they were witnessing a man beat a toddler of about 1-2 years of age, brutally beating and stomping were some of the words used in the article. Other people stopped, and soon the police came and had to shoot the man dead to make him quit beating the child. The child was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Now the officer on the scene says that some of the witnesses tried to stop him but their tries were ineffective, he pushed them off and continued. This whole story makes me sick, it is hard to judge sitting here, far from there, but really no one could stop this guy? No one had a plan, hey you grab him and I'll get the kid? really?

Decisions, that how this got started. I could have made the decision to read a different news article, some happy fluff that clogs up 95% of our news channels. But when I read the news I want to hear about the bad stuff. It reminds me that bad shit happens. It's easy to forget that my problems are not the be all end all. It's real easy to forget that I am lucky. That I have it real good. It's easy to forget that I could make a difference. Just by making a decision.

We are all so content to mind our own business, it doesn't affect me type of attitude. But in the end it does affect us all. Yeah, in November we get to pick a new administration but how much damage has the current one caused us? How long before the new administration or the one after it cleans up the messes caused by this one? All of these seemingly endless decisions affect us all. It's time to start caring about them.

What's happening hot stuff?

Lifes been happening. Not too much going on the beginning of this year, here are some bits and pieces.

****

moonlight trampoline jumping

paparazzi stalking

mischief and target practice

a hike in the savannas (a natural preserve up the street) where we encountered the ferocious wildlife of a cricket, turtle, and a dog

food, friends, beach, hopefully more of the same come summer.

Just sittin' around

just an ordinary day at the Nichols house.

A mouthful

I have recently begun buying the new earth-friendly cleaners you see hawked everywhere. I was surprised at how well some of them worked, and in the fact that they smell better than the older versions. I realized that I didn't know exactly which chemicals you should seek to avoid, so why was I buying these cleaners, hype? Anyways, I decided to go and find out exactly what I was avoiding and what nasty things would happen to me if I didn't. Avoid it that is.

***

(Most of my information comes from a site called organicconsumers.com)

***
You should avoid cleaners with ammonia, chlorine, and petroleum-based chemicals. All have been shown to contribute to respiratory irritation and headaches. They should not be used by people with asthma, lung, or heart problems.

Fragrances, one third of the substances used in the industry are toxic. Fragrances in our cleaners, on our bodies, keeping us healthy, clean, and smelling good. How ironic. In the fragrance industry chemical makeup is considered a trade secret and companies are not required to list their ingredients, they simply put fragrance. One third - toxic, poisonous is a synonym.

Diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA) are sudsing agents found in detergents. These chemicals react with nitrites to form nitrosamines- carcinogen that readily penetrates the skin. They have low acute toxicity, but contribute to long term health effects like cancer and hormone disruption. That sounds like fun.

Another suspected carcinogen comes from ethoxylated alcohols also used in detergents. It has been known to show damage to the brain and nervous system.

For a really great detailed list use this link, kidsorganics.com

***

Not only is it dangerous for our health but we our once again polluting our earth, from which we gather all sustenance. We are increasing air pollution, including indoor air pollution. We contaminate rivers, lakes, stream, and oceans. Destroying the delicate balance of the ecosystems. Some people want to say this is evolution, and quite frankly I agree we are evolving. But how do you want to evolve?

After they disappear down our drains most ingredients break down into harmless substances during treatment or soon after, sounds encouraging, right? However some do not. For instance alkyphenol ethoxylates (APE), which are key ingredients in detergent's effectiveness have been shown to mimic the estrogen hormone. Not only are they making the fish act weird, like male salmon producing female egg-yolk proteins, but they have serious side effects for us humans. They are one of those hormone disruptors, which have shown decreased sperm count and male birth defects, but let's not forget us women, they have been shown to make estrogen-sensitive breast cancer cells multiply in test tube studies. Back to the delicate balance of the ecosystem, phosphates, used in dish detergents, enter the waterways and act as a fertilizer. Which promotes the overgrowth of algae, which in turn depletes the oxygen supply, which tends to kill off fish and other organisms throwing off the natural balance of things. Which directly relates to us humans.

***

I know, I know those environmentally friendly cleaners cost a fortune. You could get away with buying some of them, like me, but not all of them just too damn expensive. Well here are some options,try to find something nontoxic enought to warrant not having the following labels. Is that a double negative?

Danger/Poison- typically most hazardous

Warning- moderately hazardous

Caution- slightly toxic

Also keep in mind that all of this organic, environmentally friendly gibberish is a fairly new market and such claims are not always rigorously monitored. Such as a claim of non-toxic, this has no official definition. Organic in chemistry refers to chemicals that are carbon-based including some volatile organic compounds (VOC) that release harmful fumes and may cause brain damage or cancer. Bio-degradable is almost meaningless as most substances will eventually bio-degrade, try for something with a time limit like bio-degradable in 3-5 days. And there are vague terms like natural or eco-friendly, make them back it up with specific claims such as no phosphates, no solvents or plant-based. Then there is the good old-fashioned suggestion, make your own cleaners. I will admit that I have not tried this, but came across two sites that gave some good info, they are care2 and eartheasy . I can't wait to try them out.

***

Here is a little homage to my grandma, whom I miss very much. When we were younger my grandmother used to dry out her plastic ziploc bags and we would always tease her about this. Saying, just throw them away and use a new one. She would always smile this secretive little smile and go about what she was doing. She grew up through the great depression. She remembered very vividly what it was like to not have enough, and was very frugal with things. What I am learning is that soon we will also have to live without some of our creature comforts, how long can we as a society continue to justify our habits? We can continue this way until we have depleted everything, or we can all pitch in a little now and try to conserve something. It may seem like you can never do enough to make a change, but what if everyone did a little, wouldn't that equal a lot?

***

To my grandma- I've got a plastic bag drying on my counter, I love you.

"I want to rise up with a full heart"

An amazing quote that comes to me every once in a while.

I was watching the movie Sicko the other day. (It's a Michael Moore documentary on healthcare, or rather our lack of it as a nation. Call me a socialist but I'm all for it.)

Now, I won't go into the details of the movie, watch it, it's worth it.

However, there was this one part that stuck with me. A lady in, I believe, France was talking about how they live in a great country and one of the reasons that it was so great was that the government was afraid of the people. Yes, I said it right, the government was afraid of the people. Isn't that interesting? The reason for this was that in France they protested when things weren't going their way, and the government listened. The government was scared of its people, not the other way around. Isn't that something to think about?

I think our current administration has never had 'the people' in mind. I've no doubt that they've had 'people' in mind when it came to helping someone out. Just not the regular, average guy. How come we don't hold them accountable for that?

Case in point: another Michael Moore movie, Fahrenheit 911. My favorite part was when he went to Congress and asked all the congressman and Senators if they would enlist their child for the war that they started. He just wanted to make sure they were being fair, the regular guy was going in why not their sons and daughters? If I remember correctly, most of them blew him off, quite rudely even as if that was unfathomable, there was only one guy who actually stood and talked to him about it. He didn't enlist his child either, he just didn't blow him off.

My point, we are supposed to live in one of the wealthiest, forward thinking countries in the world, yet we don't help each other out when in need. Those of us with the means and the time are too busy stockpiling for our own asses. The rest of us are just trying to make it through the day. Why? So we can do today all over again tomorrow?

Believe In Something

My father-in-law loves to send me his ridiculous narrow-minded Republican emails, I can actually here his gleeful chuckles as I read his propaganda. It's all good, don't tell him but I actually like when he sends them to me, it usually leads to some heated debate or such. Recently he actually sent me something useful that I wouldn't be ashamed to share. This website allows you to take a short quiz on where you stand on the issues and how important each one is to you. Then they tally up your responses and show you which candidate, by percent, that you side with. The cool thing is they show you how you rate with each candidate and which issues you agree on or don't. I had been leaning towards Clinton, not because she is a woman, how ridiculous, but because I feel that she and I are on the same page with the issues that mean the most to me. I took the quiz and, lo and behold I was right, both times I took it she came up as my number one. This has not been the case with everyone who has taken it, more than one person was surprised at the outcome, so I urge everyone to take the quiz, just to see. The reason for this is because this quiz inspired me to look up a couple of candidates websites, because while I have been leaning towards Clinton I was not sold on her just yet. She seems shady to me, but which politician isn't right?



I looked up McCain, I know, I know he's Republican but I am registered Independent for a reason. I looked up Clinton and liked what she had to say but I was still not sold on her. Then I looked up Barack Obama. I first saw him last year on a really late night talk show when Chad was out of town and I could not sleep. I really liked what he had to say, it seemed to me he really believed in what he was talking about. Unlike most who just spout what they think the majority wants to hear. The more I heard about him the more I liked but I had my reservations, I mean could he really fulfill these promises? Wasn't he a little naive? Well as I said I looked up his site and read what he had to say about the issues and then I came across this, The Blueprint for Change. It is exactly what it says it is, his blueprint for what he plans on doing with this country if he gets into office. In a regular easy to understand language. He list what he perceives is the problem, then gives the solution that he is proposing, then he also gives you his background on the issue, such as what he has previously voted and stood for.


I guess what I am trying to say here is this. Take a minute and look at all the candidates, someone might just surprise you. I know that what I am looking for is a little inspiration. Honestly, I find that in Obama, but I am still too skeptical of this country to believe that he can just waltz in there and do all the things he is promising. I want to believe though. I want to believe that someone out there can care about everyone and not just his/her own interests.


Can we?

To All the Ones I've Loved

It has been a really long time. Not even sure, really what to write. Well, I guess that's not entirely true, I can give an update on what's been going on around here.

*******

As you may have guessed we finally got the whole computer thing straightened out. They finally admitted that we had a dud and exchanged it for a new one. Only after replacing the mother board four times, which by the way cost them about $250 a pop, and we only paid $870 for the CPU. You do the math because it seems to me they gypped themselves out of a bit of money seeing as they had to give us a new CPU anyway. Although they would not exchange our CPU for an Apple (even though it was a slight downgrade, a bit less memory) seeing as how their policy is technology for technology and apparently an Apple is not a PC? They did however end up giving us a CPU that was about 8x the computer we did have, go figure. The last thing I am going to say on this subject is, that it seems like we got the better end of the deal, until you factor in that we paid them to back-up our files on our old computer and they say they did, but neither Chad or I can figure out how to retrieve it off the hard drive they gave us. So I get to mourn again the loss of my pictures. Unless by some miracle we are doing something wrong (anyone?) when trying to retrieve our old files. It seems to be easy, (there is a spot to click on that says retrieve files and when we do it tells us we have no files to retrieve) but you never know with this technology stuff.

*****

Chad and I are doing okay, he's been working, playing a little bit, they last played the weekend before Xmas at a huge skate party, it was cool. I have, as of this Saturday, become unemployed again. Which is cool also, but I am already sweating a tiny bit about the loss of funds. No worries I keep telling myself we will succeed through all of this. Just hasn't been a fun few weeks. Ashton is still doing well homeschooling he improves a little bit everyday. He and I really enjoy our days together, haven't been doing too many field trips though, the price of gas and technically we don't have a car right now. Still having a good time. I have to tell you that last night he was awarded his red belt in Tae Kwon Do, which is an amazing feat. The board breaking technique that he had to perform was called a flying sidekick, which means that he had to run from across the room, jump, and hit the board just right and at the right angle in order to break it. Pretty hard to do. He has two more belts before he hits black belt. Yeah, ASH! Kenan is an amazing child, amazingly frustrating, but amazing still the same. He is still having some problems getting his act together in school, but Chad and I are working on the best possible solutions to help him succeed. He is in 7th grade this year and we keep telling him that it matters, we'll just have to see if he straightens up and decided to believe us or not. He will also be 13 in a little less than a month, my babies, just aren't babies anymore. Genevieve, Genevieve, where do I start with this child. She is cool as hell, fierce, independent, smart. She is doing well back in regular school, she has some friends, and her teachers love her. She was on the A-B honor roll the first grading period, so we are really proud. She is trying hard.

******

The holidays came and went without a splash, sometimes I find myself wondering if they even came at all. We chose to do nothing for Thanksgiving this year, at first I was a little bit bummed, but I have to tell you it was really nice, we hung out at the house and did nothing. Xmas and New Year's were just like any other, they came and went. We did get a trampoline so that's been fun. Not too much been happening here.

******

Eating Green

So my beautiful sister knows that I am trying to be somewhat responsible in my eating habits. Since my family is not going 'veggie' with me, I try to buy them healthy all natural alternatives. After the soy milk coup d'etat I continue to buy them animal products, I like my head and want to keep it and my family close to heart.

So the beautiful sister sent me this in an email a bit ago and I thought it was worth sharing.

Eating GreenYour guide to organic and other in-the-news terms
When deciding what to feed your family, you're bound to face a bewildering array of food labels claiming that items are organic, natural or free range. Here’s what these labels mean:
Growing Conditions
Organic-If a product bears a "USDA organic" label, you are guaranteed that’s it’s at least 95 free of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and sewage sludge and that it hasn’t been genetically modified or irradiated. No hormones or antibiotics are allowed; animals must be fed organically-grown feed and have access to the outdoors. While some experts have suggested that organic foods are healthier than conventionally-grown, the USDA doesn’t support these claims.
Sustainable-Sustainable agriculture refers to crops that are raised in ways that don’t harm the environment, are humane to animals, and that supports farm workers and farming communities. Not all sustainable foods are organic — most come from small family farms which may not have the time or resources to get organic certification (it is expensive and time-consuming). A related label is "Fair Trade," which certifies that farmers in developing countries have received a fair price for products like coffee that are grown in a sustainable way.
Natural-Natural refers to meat and poultry that contains no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. There is no certification and because a food is called "natural," it doesn’t mean that farm animals were raised organically.
Locally Grown-Locally grown refers to crops produced no more than 250 miles from where they’re purchased. The emphasis is on seasonal, fresh produce, meats and dairy products but these crops may have been raised with pesticides.
If the label does not specify that the food any special growing conditions, you should assume it’s conventional. Crops and cattle are raised using synthetic chemicals, like fertilizers and pesticides to curb insect growth and increase the amount of food produced. Farmers can give their animals antibiotics, growth hormones and other medications. This is the way most crops and livestock have been raised in the U.S. for the past 50 years.
Hormones and Antibiotics
Antibiotic-Free-The term "antibiotic-free" is unregulated but producers can label foods "no antibiotics administered" or "raised without antibiotics," which means animals were raised entirely without the substances. Concerns have been raised that antibiotic use in cattle causes antibiotic resistant bacteria to develop, threatening human health.
Hormone-Free-For pork and chicken, the label "hormone free" is meaningless; these substances are banned when raising pigs and chickens. Beef may carry a "no hormones administered" label but no outside authority currently certifies this claim. Controversy has arisen over the artificial hormone rBGH which increases milk production. The U.S. is one of the few countries to approve its use; others have banned it because of concerns over human and animal health.
Animal Welfare
Free Range-Chickens that aren’t confined to cages and are granted access to the outdoors are called "free range." But the USDA only requires limited outdoor time; conditions can be crowded and dirty and there’s no outside monitoring.
Grass-Fed-Cattle raised largely on grass and hay are referred to as "grass-fed." No government regulations or inspections apply to the term and these cattle may not be organic. Since cows’ stomachs more easily digest grass than grain, it is a more natural, humane and antibiotic-free way to raise cattle.

beautiful sister:

So to steal a phrase, I'm not in the mood.

(You really should update, if only for me ;)

I haven't been in the mood for quite a while.

It all started when this goshdarn computer continued breaking on me, week after week.

Now, I don't know, maybe it's just from not using so much? I really have no desire to really get on this contraption, really ever.

Here is my contribution, here are the fun and interesting things that have been going on in our lives lately. Not too much really.

me, I'm still a cheeky brat.

Chad is still super hot, ahem, I mean playing gigs, writing amazing music.

We've had two new members adopt us, although Merlin got caught in the radiator fan one day (obviously a complete accident) and doesn't come around so much anymore.

Merlin

Guiness

HALLOWEEN 2007

Kenan wanted to be something creepy and cool. zombie. He pulls it off well.

Ashton is a character from an anime game/book/cartoon called Naruto. His character is Gaara, he controls sand, so he carries it with him at all times.

No folks this is not the infamous, Jack Sparrow, this is Johnny Depp. "All the girls want to kiss Johnny Depp"- Evie. She was right, I know I got my kiss, I mean how many times do you get the opportunity to kiss Johnny Depp.

*while going through the pictures for the post I realized I have quite a few pics that never got posted. I will be making up various albums through snapfish, if you are interested let me know and I will email them to you.*

maybe I'm biased

but I don't think so. You all know Chad plays music, you all know I think he's amazing. Well here is your chance to let me know what you think. I want your honest opinions. Here is his bands' site MATADOR. I really want your feedback. Please comment. thanks.

Doesn't anyone have anything interesting to say anymore?

Updates

Wow! it's been a while, especially for me, since I've written. Most of you already know but we have been having a bit of computer problem lately. In the past 3-4 months we have had to replace our motherboard in the CPU, going on the third time now. We have spoken with the company that warranties us and we will probably file for their no-lemon policy. That is once they place the computer in the right place and diagnose the problem officially. Let's not talk about it, suffice to say it was a hard lesson for me to learn, as I never backed anything up and have now lost all the things that were important to us.

So with that said there are no pictures for you, I am rarely on this thing anymore, which I've conceded is a good thing. We are using the kids old computer we have for them to play games on, it's really slow and we can't really download most things onto it anyway.

Since then school has gotten under way as well as the thousand and one birthdays that occur at this time of the year.

Evie's birthday was a blast, I can't believe she is 10. We took her camping again, it's what she wanted to do. We went fishing and caught quite a few fish, she caught the first one which was cool. She is back in school and really likes it, she is doing well.

Ash's birthday was yesterday and we took the 14 year old to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios for the day. Just Chad, Ash, and I went, it was a really nice day. He looks so much like Chad at that age. He is still homeschooling and we are really having fun.

That's about it, hope all is well with you and yours. Will talk to you eventually.

Keep buying Hummers, yeehaw!

So I was reading the newspaper on Sunday and I was heartened to see the headline-"House Oks $16 billion in taxes on oil companies"

I read the first few paragraphs out loud to Chad so we could discuss, this is the gist of it. Basically, the democratic-led House, while declaring a new direction in energy policy, approved $16 billion in taxes on oil companies while providing tax breaks and incentives for renewable energy and conservation efforts. Republican opponents said the legislation ignored the need to provide more domestic oil, natural gas, and coal. One Republican was quoted as saying..."the pure venom.. against the oil and gas industry."

Well, duh... yeah, there is venom against this particular industry, not because of what they produce , because let's face it we all use and depend on it, but instead the fact that they vehemently deny and even encourage distortion of the facts that this is one of the lead causes of global warming. And in denying, allow themselves no out to try and come up with a plausible solution. Instead they push aside their conscience, choose to fatten their wallets, and thicken our air.

I thought what a great thing, they are going to hit them where it hurts, until Chad brought up the very good point that it won't hurt the oil companies they'll just raise the price of gas again. Oh shite, he's right, then I said well that's when it is our turn to do our part and choose wiser, more fuel efficient products. We got into a discussion about how everyone would have to do this in order to make any kind of difference. I think these changes are inevitable, who can afford a $45 gas fill up twice a week?

I decided to finish the article.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi said " We are turning to the future." My heart excited I read on. Part of the bill calls for more stringent efficiency standards for appliances and lighting and incentives for building more 'green' buildings. I was thrilled, this is something that I have been looking at lately for our home, and different options and ideas for that 'dream home' Chad and I are always constructing.

Then I read on and quickly remembered this is politics that we are dealing with. One back does not get scratched on it's own.

" Democrats avoided a nasty fight by ignoring.... calls for automakers to make vehicles more fuel efficient."

Aha, we have come to the real story. Yes, the democratic house won a victory, but not against the oil companies. What is really happening , is the everyday person, you know you and I, we are getting screwed, royally. We are the ones, who, if we have the heart and the want to change , can't afford a major overhaul all at once. We can only change a little at a time, while still having to pay outrageous prices for oil which we are 'almost' forced to use. I say 'almost' because we can get radical and hippie-like, but for the most part that is not a realistic option . For the people who have the means to negotiate a major overhaul of fuel-efficiency, well let's just say that most of them are not so motivated to do this.

So the rest of us, the regular guy, can just bend over, take a deep breath, and relax, while the guys who make all the decisions insert the gas nozzle and smile.

music: Modest Mouse- The Lonesome Crowded West

300

So Tuesday morning I ran out and bought 2 copies of 300, when I say ran I mean it. I gave one to my in-laws for their birthday and the other one is sitting in a prize position on my desk. I am getting ready to sit back and enjoy the movie, but I thought I'd take one more second out and encourage everyone to see this movie, again even, if you've already seen it.

I can't pinpoint exactly why this movie turns me on so much, but it does, and I champion it at every turn. Yeah sure, there are a couple of hotbodied guys running around in speedo-type loincloths throughout the whole movie, and yes a hotblooded 30 something female such as myself thoroughly, let me say that again, thoroughly, appreciates that, but that is not the whole reason I watch. The movie really struck something in me, it really inspired me to take stock of what's missing lately. The Spartans stood in the face of opposition and did not bend their morals, not an inch. That is what lacks in so many of us today in these times. The willingness to trade what you know to be true in your heart for the sake of others, for the feeling of going with the crowd.

Never back down from your heart.

In the end it's all you own.

Another good title along these same lines:

Happy Feet

no, but really.