I'm sicker than a dog. Moan. I'll catch you up soon, though.

Labels: can't blog

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  Can you believe it? I don't know why, but this week just seemed to drag on forever...

We visited the Mother Cabrini Shrine with our homeschool group. It was an interesting trip, because last week, the large statue of Jesus at the top of the mountain was struck by lightning. So, after we climbed the 373 stairs (ow ow ow ow ow up, then OW OW OW OW OW down etc.), this is what we saw:



I did not know this, but while I was surfing around looking for the article about the lightning strike, I found out that Mother Cabrini is numbered among the Incorruptibles. I always find stuff like that fascinating. If you want, you can read more about her, and even see a picture of her body here.

Have a great long weekend!

Labels: homeschooling, life, newsworthy

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Thirteen Things about JEN



1. When I got married, I left college with ONE semester to go. Everyone told me not to, but I wouldn't listen. How can you get that close to graduating, and still be so dumb? ;-)

2. I have TWO moles on my face. I hate them and should probably have them removed, but I'm too lazy to do that. Does anyone know anything about getting that done? Would you make an appointment for me?

3. I learned to read when I was THREE. I don't have any actual memories of not being able to read something.

4. I have FOUR children.

5. Well, FIVE children, if you count the miscarriage the cycle before we got the twins. That was such a sad time.

6. I have lived in my house for SIX years, and I'm never moving out. I'm going to die in this house. I'll only move if my house burns down and I can just move in somewhere else and start fresh...

7. Davin and I have been members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for SEVEN months now. I'm actually starting to feel like I know what's going on, I've even spoken in front of our ward and prepared funeral potatoes for a potluck!

8. I was born in the EIGHTH month of 1970. My sister was born in the EIGHTH month of 1971. That sort of took mom by surprise.

9. My hair has grown NINE inches...

10. ...in the last TEN months. I've been trying to take good care of it since I found the Long Hair Community forums. Those people are deadly serious about hair.

11. We moved to Colorado when I was ELEVEN, before that I lived in Indiana.

12. If I had my way, I'd sleep in until TWELVE every day. Or later. I'm convinced that Heavenly Father intended for me to be nocturnal, I just don't really perk up until after 6 pm or so.

13. Well, look at that, I thought of THIRTEEN things to share about! OK, this last one is cheesy. Sue me.

I didn't actually think of this idea for a 13. I know I saw some other blogger did it first, but I can't remember who! If the person who originally did this surfs through, will you let me know and I'll credit you for the idea? Thanks!

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Labels: Thursday Thirteen

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  He is not expected to attend.

Parole Hearing Scheduled For Charles Manson

A parole board hearing is scheduled for Charles Manson on Wednesday. Manson is currently serving a life prison term for seven homicides that are commonly known as the Tate-LaBianca murders.

Manson has been denied parole 10 times in the past, receiving a "string of five-year denials" owing to the gravity of his crimes, Sessa said. Five years is the maximum period that can elapse in between parole board hearings for inmates serving life with the possibility of parole.

I'll update later when we know what happened, although it's not likely anything's going to change.

I also wanted to add DANG! You should write about Charles Manson if you want people to read your blog! Since I blogged earlier about his parole hearing, I have had tons of hits from people searching for news about his hearing. One day almost 20% of people coming to my blog were looking for that! (ETA: Today it's been 30%!) Wow, who knew?

So, in case you were wondering, the next hearing will be for Patricia Krenwinkel sometime in July.

Editing to Add: Charles Manson again denied parole in California

Well, that's it until 2012...

Labels: manson, newsworthy

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  No escape as mobile phone reaches Everest's summit

A British mountaineer has set a world record by making the first mobile telephone call from the summit of Mount Everest, taking the blessing -- or curse -- of the cell phone to new heights...

His achievement was made possible by China Telecom, which has set up a mobile phone tower at base camp on the north side of the mountain.

I just keep picturing that annoying Verizon guy in cold weather gear standing at the summit saying, "Can you hear me now?"

Apparently many of the climbers this year are a bit over the top.

Last week a Briton pulled off the season's first big stunt by making the first flight over the summit using a powered paraglider.

A Nepali mountaineer has also broken his own world record by scaling the peak for a breathtaking seventeenth time.

Other daredevils on the mountain include Wim "Iceman" Hof, a Dutchman attempting to scale the peak wearing just shorts, boots, gloves and a cap.

Man, I wear more than that to get the mail when it's chilly out! I hope he's alright, it seems like he's sure to lose some fingers and toes at the very least...

Labels: newsworthy

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  We are looking for a pop up camper. We've been enjoying camping a lot these last couple of years, but it's such a pain to load 6 zillion things in (and on) the car, then spend 2 hours setting up, only to spend 2 more hours tearing down in a day or so. So, we're hoping a pop up will give us a little more hanging out by the campfire time, and a little less setting up time.

And, if you're throwing up from a migraine while the other grownup is left to pack it all up, the time it takes to re-load everything at the end of the trip is just that much worse (did I tell you that story?)

Do any of you have experience with this? What do you recommend?

Editing to Add: I did tell you all about the migraine/throw up camping trip, it was the same one with the nasty pit toilets, but for some weird reason I didn't give you the blow by blow on the rest of the activities. I will fix that soon.

Labels: camping, hurl

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  Yesterday, when we were dealing with the Dragon Foot Incident, Sage and I had a little time to ourselves when they took Maya for an X-ray.

We were sitting quietly, when Sage looked around and said, "Do you suppose anyone's died in this room?"

I told her that I doubted it, because it's a pretty new hospital and besides it looked like it was the room where they put folks who just need a cast or splint. But, it made me wonder if that's a normal thought process for a 9 year old girl, or have we ruined her somehow?

Labels: kids, medical

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Thirteen Things about The Dragon in Maya's Foot 1. Well, I was getting all ready to post my first T-13 in a long time, when I was interrupted by some loud screaming and shrieking. 2. Apparently, Maya had stepped on a toy on the floor, and it went about an inch into the arch of her foot. 3. The toy was the head part of a dragon, and it was pretty fierce looking. 4. We called the pediatrician, who told us to take her to the ER. 5. You know the injury is weird when the ER personnel keep showing up with friends from other departments to see it! They all agreed it was the first dragon they'd ever seen stuck in someone's foot. 6. One of the doctors actually asked if he could take a picture of it. Maya said yes, so now her injury is on film (more likely a memory card) somewhere... There were tons of people gathered around to see her foot, so Maya was wavering between being freaked out and thinking it was sort of cool. 7. Then, the doctor was able to pull it out. 8. I had attempted to pull it out at home, but the part of the toy that went it was pointy, then got larger, then skinnier, so it was stuck in there pretty well. :-P 9. There wasn't a whole lot of blood, and Maya was very brave. 10. It was still gross, though. I've never been so close to throwing up because of an injury to one of my kids. 11. And, if you've been reading here a while, you know we've seen a lot. 12. I don't have a picture of the dragon actually IN her foot (my camera's broken) but I was able to scan the dragon now that it's out. The line indicates how far it went in, and the arrow points to the part that was actually in the arch of her foot. 13. Do you want to see it? Ok, here it is:

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Labels: hurl, medical, Thursday Thirteen

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  Our mouse, Toast, has indeed passed on.

Due to the deviant culinary behavior of her cagemate, Meika, a quiet closed-casket burial in the general trash was performed last night.

A memorial service will be held today, please feel free to leave any condolences in the comment section.

Labels: hurl, pets, requiem

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  Shhhh, don't tell the kids, but I think one of our pet mice, "Toast," may be dead. She's certainly MIA, and she's so old and decrepit (poor sweet girl) that I know she didn't escape.

I'm going to let Davin dig around in the cage tonight, because I don't "do" dead pets. I'll update you all when we know more...

Labels: pets

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  Happy Mother's Day!

Special thanks to mom and Linda, and Dee and Lou, you all have been great! Davin and I have been blessed to have our moms, and also our step moms, to help and guide (and spank!) us as we grew up. We love you!

And, I want to remind everyone to keep those women who aren't having a happy Mother's Day near our hearts. Many women are hurting today; the ones who can't have children, the ones whose children are missing or dead, and the ones whose children are lost to them. Please keep these women in your prayers.

Labels: holiday

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  Did you know this? I didn't know this....

Stamp prices to go up Monday

It will cost a bit more to mail letters and parcels starting Monday. A first-class letter will go up 2 cents to 41 cents.

Maybe I'm just dense, but I stopped paying attention to stamps a while back. It seems like they're changing all the time any more. (Maybe they always have and I never noticed, like I said, I'm dense.)

I wish they would just raise it to a dollar per stamp, and then leave it at that rate for a really long time until the cost catches up again. In the meantime, it would create a bit of a surplus, but it seems certain they could put it to use.

Maybe they could spend some to buy new facilities to replace the ones that got anthraxed. I know they say they cleaned it, but do you suppose that's ever far from the minds of the people who work there every day? I'd be completely freaked out every time I got sick, chugging Cipro and saying goodbye to my family. No wonder these folks sometimes lose it and shoot the place up, can you blame them?

Labels: medical, newsworthy

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  Man injured by toppled tombstone charged

A man found trapped unconscious beneath a 1,000-pound tombstone in a cemetery faces charges and might have to pay for damages, police said.

Michael David Schreiber's legs were broken by the stone, and the family name on the gravestone left the letter "V" imprinted on his thigh, Merrillville Officer Ray Smith said.

He said it took five officers to remove the headstone from Schreiber's body Sunday morning at Calumet Park Cemetery.

Schreiber, 22, of Merrillville faces charges of criminal trespassing, criminal mischief and public intoxication, police said. He also might be ordered to pay for damage to 14 headstones, Police Chief Nicholas Bravos said. Estimated damage totaled about $8,400, Bravos said.

When will people learn that you just can't mess around with dead folks? They have NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE!!! He's just fortunate that he didn't have his brains eaten by zombies while awating rescue...

Labels: newsworthy, zombies

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  Student tries to make roadkill pretty

For the past several weeks, drivers near Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville have been noticing odd things about some of the roadkill on the sides of the area's highways.

Some of the dead possums and raccoons have been dressed in pet or human baby clothes and have had their claws painted with nail polish. The carcass of a deer has been adorned with gold paint.

She says she's doing it to make people give more thought to animals, by giving them human attributes. Personally, I don't like to pay any more attention to road kill than I have to. I think I'm getting squeamish as I age, because this whole idea is actually making me a little queasy.

Labels: hurl, newsworthy

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  ABC details final three "Lost" seasons

The Emmy-winning adventure series will run for 48 more episodes over three seasons. Each season will consist of 16 episodes, which will air uninterrupted..."Due to the unique nature of 'Lost,' we knew it would require an end date to keep the integrity and strength of the show consistent throughout and to give the audience the payoff they deserve," ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson said.

I didn't start watching Lost until recently, but I've watched all the way through now and I'm caught up. And I still don't get a lot of what's going on. I'm looking forward to having more of it explained, isn't everyone? I will miss the show when it's over, but that's better than dragging it on well past its prime.

Closer to my personal life...

This weekend, while we were away NOT camping, I read And I Don't Want to Live This Life, by Debbie Spungen. I couldn't put this book down. She tells the story of her daughter, Nancy Spungen, who was murdered by Sex Pistols' bass player Sid Vicious. She doesn't focus on Nancy's time with Sid, rather she puts the emphasis on her early life at home. Debbie says that from the very beginning Nancy was not an ordinary child. She was extremely bright, but also violent, angry and self-destructive. They took her to doctors and specialists, all of whom either denied there was a problem or blamed the parents for her behavior. None were able to help. At one point, Nancy was diagnosed as a schizophrenic, but that diagnosis was not made available to her parents until after her death, and no treatment was suggested.

As a mom, I could understand her story, how she wondered what was wrong with Nancy, and how she tried everything to get her help. I think all mothers feel that from time to time. But, where most of us are either relieved as our children grow out of these behaviors, or we are able to find treatment and support, Debbie details the white-knuckle non-stop roller coaster that her family experienced. When the press made Nancy out to be a spoiled brat junkie who had it coming, her mother was devasted. She'd tried so hard to give Nancy dignity in spite of her mental illess. As Debbie says, "Nancy didn't deserve to die this way, to be treated this way. You don't understand her. She was LOVED."

I have to say, I almost wonder if she would be considered to have Reactive Attachment Disorder if she were examined today. Not that it matters, I'm just curious.

So, if you're looking for a quick read that will suck you in and tear your heart apart, you could do a lot worse than this book.

Labels: books, life, lost

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  But we did get away. The weather was looking bad yesterday, so we changed our plans. Good thing, too, since we had some wild weather last night here in CO! Snow, rain, wind, tornadoes and everything! I'm starting to wonder if that's all some sort of signal that the Apocalypse is coming soon. ;-) We're at a local hotel, sucking up the free breakfast and lazing in the hot tub and just plain relaxing.

I've gotten a couple of comments about my "manson" tag for blogging. I haven't gotten to use it very much, but I know I have old posts about him around here, too. His is a fascinating tale. Helter Skelter is the first true crime book I ever read, and I still find the story compelling. It's really terrifying, not in a horror movie kind of way, but in that, "This awful stuff could happen to just about anybody," way. It still gives me the creeps, which says a lot.

Ron should be coming home today. Yesterday his lab work was still a little off, so they kept him another night. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Labels: life, manson, medical

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  OK, Ron is out of surgery, and they are planning on him coming home Friday. Yay!

Renee was asking why Charles Manson didn't get the death penalty. The thing is, he did. So did the his co-defendants. But then California changed their law, and everyone who was on death row had their sentences changed to "life." So, all of the Manson killers have been eligible for parole for quite a while now. In the meantime, California changed back again to allow the death penalty, but that didn't apply to the people who'd already been let off the hook by the last change.

In theory we're going camping this weekend, but I won't know for a while longer. We're watching the weather, and we'll decide in the morning. So, if I don't blog, I'm camping!

Labels: camping, life, manson

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  I've got two extra kids today, because their dad is in the hospital possibly having a heart attack.

I'll post more when I know it. Until then, could you pray for Ron? At the moment he's doing well, but his labs are really concerning them and they're keeping him in the ICU...

ETA: Ron is in surgery right now, they're placing stents in his heart. He had a heart attack a few years ago, and they were able to tell that at least one of the stents they'd placed previously has nearly closed up. So, it's definitely a heart attack situation, but it appears that he's avoided a lot of the actual attack, and the subsequent damage.

Labels: can't blog

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  He has a hearing scheduled for May 23. If you want to write to the parole board regarding his hearing, you can find the address here, but seriously, why would you want to?

It's been 37 years since the Tate-LaBianca murders were committed, and I have a hard time thinking he's improved with age. I may be totally wrong, but he just seems like a lost cause any time he appears in the media.

Now, I can see some of the women getting out and actually doing something useful with their lives.

What do you think about this?

Oh, and thanks to everyone who made me feel better about my brain damage yesterday. You guys are the best!

Labels: crime, manson

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  I feel stupid for days after a migraine, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out some of the damage is permanent.

Migraines linked with brain damage

People with migraines also may be suffering from some brain damage as brain cells swell and become starved of oxygen -- a finding that may help explain why migraine sufferers have a higher risk of stroke, researchers reported on Sunday...Similar brain damage can occur with concussions and after strokes, the researchers said in this week's issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience.

They recommend medication to prevent migraine attacks, I've got that covered. Also, they say that high pressure oxygen given during a migraine may help combat brain damage. Crap! We have even less oxygen in our air than just about anyone! I'm hosed, aren't I? You can tell me, I can take it. Do I seem stupid?

Labels: brain damage, medical, newsworthy

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