Rumor has it lawn_mama is gestating.

Dear ElJay,

Talk to me about Diva Cups. Comfort, ease of use? Good, bad, love, hate? How long does it take to 'get it right' or will there always be a risk of leakage? How long does it last before you need to change (speaking of hours here, not years)?

Thanks and love.

eta: I should have said 'menstrual cups' instead of Diva Cups. I didn't realize there were so many different brands!

How cute are these?!

Tighten up your bootstraps and get things done today, dear Aquarius. There is an expansive feeling in the air that will aid you in tackling whatever it is that you need to do. The more practical you are in your dealings, the better off you will be. Take things one step at a time instead of trying to rush through to the end. Don't forget that the journey is the reward.

Has anyone heard from bulvai?

Who is on Twitter?

Yesterday, we had baby robins in a nest in one of our smaller maples.

Today, we had a hawk in the yard and an empty nest.

You are invited to an Usborne Books eShow to explore the world of Usborne Books. A child's interest in reading and learning is stimulated by the lavish illustrations and informative content. There are over 1300 bright, colorful and fun titles covering activities, puzzles and a wide range of subjects for children of all ages.

Usborne Books - the books kids love to read!

Hosted by: Jill Adams
Place: http://www.ubah.com/HOS145383

When: Today thru 6/29/2009 11:59:00 PM



Everyone is welcome, so invite a friend.

It's a rewarding experience when a child opens a book and discovers the magic of reading.

This morning has been so peaceful.

It has rained steadily but it was a quiet, soothing rain.

The windows are open and there is fresh air flowing through our home.

Birds are outside my windows, chirping, singing.

It is almost ten and all of the kids are still in their rooms, very quiet, all tuckered out from a long and busy yesterday.

This is my favorite time of year for the simple fact that it is warm and green.

I love the view from my kitchen window. Between the window frames, I see a wooden swing set nestled between two large maple trees overflowing with leaves, a crabapple tree just behind it, and bunches of pink and white peonies. I love the green, green, green...the leaves and the grass. It's so beautiful.

I love to look out the front door. My favorite tree is dripping with large leaves and provides a substantial area of shade, and the grass beneath is utterly soft. The branches are so large I can't see the house across the street, and it feels private and quiet.

Looking out the western bedroom window, I can see nothing but purple and green from the bushes and leaves outside. It's lovely.

When I gaze out the northern window in the living room, I see a field with a boundary of woods. More green. I love it.

Summer is late in coming this year, but the breezes are soft and cool now, and I have no complaints.

Happy Birthday, Robin!

I swear, I am going to start journaling again. Someday.

But first, I really like the new mood theme LJ has out. Cute!

I was nudged by navygreen quite some time ago, but became sick shortly after with a sinus infection like I've never had before.

I haven't been online in nearly a week. It's strange but just five minutes online and I'm feeling dizzy and my eyes seem repulsed by the screen. I have to keep looking away.

Perhaps an update will have to wait.

*rambling conversation between Abby and Adam, during which he mentions a loose tooth, and she says soon he can put it under the pillow for the Tooth Fairy*

Adam: There's no Tooth Fairy! I know it's really Mom who puts money under the pillow, and I've known it for years!

Abby: (shocked expression, looks at me and mouths is that true?)

Me: *hemming and hawing*

Anna: grinning at my discomfort and being no help whatsoever

Abby: Mom?

Me: Okay, Abby, it's true, I'm the Tooth Fairy.

Abby: (long pause) Okay, Mom, that's not true, because remember the time I was going to sleep in Adam's room and you set the futon mattress out for me, and we were going to watch a movie, and you and I were cleaning the kitchen, and when I went in the room, the Tooth Fairy had already put the money under my pillow?

Me: Yes, that was me, I put the money there when I set the mattress up for you.

Abby: No, you didn't. Besides, I have that letter from the Tooth Fairy and she drew a picture of herself on it! And Adam has a letter from the Tooth Fairy in teeny tiny writing.

Me: Honey, I wrote those letters.

Abby: (looks at me with a "nice try, mom" expression) No, you didn't.

Thanks to tamago23 for this link.

There are so many words that came to mind when I read this article, words like patriarchy and organized religion, and they all had multiple curse words attached to them.

How is an abortion for a tiny nine-year-old who was RAPED BY HER STEP-FATHER grounds for excommunication, but the the RAPE OF A CHILD is not?

I try very hard to not write about religion here because my beliefs vary greatly from the majority of the people on my friends list, but I can't imagine that anyone would find this acceptable.

Where is the love and compassion of the church leaders who supposedly represent Jesus Christ? Because it sure as hell isn't going toward this little girl, or her older sister, who was also raped by the step-father.


Vatican defends Brazil excommunication
March 8, 2009, 6:40 am

A senior Vatican cleric has defended the excommunication of the mother and doctors of a nine-year-old girl who had an abortion in Brazil after being raped.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Catholic church's Congregation for Bishops, told the daily La Stampa on Saturday that the twins the girl had been carrying had a right to live.

"It is a sad case but the real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons, who had the right to live and could not be eliminated," he said.

Re, who also heads the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, added: "Life must always be protected, the attack on the Brazilian church is unjustified."

The row was triggered by the termination on Wednesday of twin foetuses carried by a nine-year-old allegedly raped by her stepfather in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco.

The regional archbishop, Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, pronounced excommunication for the mother for authorising the operation and doctors who carried it out for fear that the slim girl would not survive carrying the foetuses to term.

"God's law is above any human law. So when a human law ... is contrary to God's law, this human law has no value," Cardoso had said.

He also said the accused stepfather would not be expelled from the church. Although the man allegedly committed "a heinous crime ... the abortion - the elimination of an innocent life - was more serious".

Battista Re agreed, saying: "Excommunication for those who carried out the abortion is just" as a pregnancy termination always meant ending an innocent life.

The case has sparked fierce debate in Brazil, where abortion is illegal except in cases of rape or if the woman's health is in danger.

( Read more... )

My childhood was spent growing up in the Appalachians, in the southernmost point of the Ohio Valley, nestled between Kentucky and West Virginia.

This weekend I discovered a book for children, Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds.
I couldn't resist this book, simply based on the cover art by Barry Moser, and once I got home and read it, I did so with a lump in my throat. The beautifully nostalgic narrative is enhanced by the watercolor paintings of stretching beagles, a tired and filthy man resting at the coal mine, ladies in their Sunday dresses waving fans near their faces outside the little white church, and so many more lovely images.

I was captivated from the opening lines: In a certain part of the country called Appalachia you will find dogs named Prince or King living in little towns with names like Coal City and Sally's Backbone. These dogs run free, being country dogs, and their legs are full of muscles from running rabbits up mountains or from following boys who push old bikes against the hill roads they call hollows. These are mostly good dogs and can be trusted.

This caught at me, too, because I know so many who have moved away, only to return: Those who do go off, who find some way to become doctors or teachers, nearly always come back to the part of Appalachia where they grew up. They're never good at explaining why. Some will say they had brothers and sisters still here and they missed them. But most will shake their heads and have a look on their faces like the look you see on dogs who wander home after being lost for a couple weeks and who search out that corner of the yard they knew they had to find again before they could get a good sleep.

(...)

In summer if you walk the roads you will smell honeysuckle and the odors of cows and that gritty aroma dirt roads in the mountains send up your nose. I remember that well. There was a dirt road going up the hill behind our house, leading to the fields where my father and uncle kept cattle, and there was honeysuckle upon honeysuckle. I remember sucking the juice from the flowers with my sisters when we were little.

I will keep and treasure this book forever.

Abby was wearing sunglasses last night as she and I headed out for a little shopping time together.

Me: Abby, why are you wearing sunglasses? It's dark outside!
Abby: That's how the Abbinator rolls, Mom.

Poll #1357169 Seemingly Random Poll and It Might Be Too Personal
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

When you eat fast food french fries, do you eat them:

Do you typically

Do you typically

Which is your preferred shower time?

Are you typically:

How often do you suffer from colds or illness in the winter season?

Sometimes when I am lying in bed at night, I think of the ladies I used to take care of in Florida. They have all passed on by now, but I will never forget them. I think I might write some things about each of them. Nothing like what I wrote about Edith, of course, but still, there are things I don't want to forget.

I'm going to start with Helen.

Helen was the epitome of the miserable little old lady.

She had a beautiful, lined face, and lovely long white hair. It was hard to get to know her because she was not open to talking to me about anything except how she resented me for replacing the previous manager of the house. I tried many times to explain that was beyond my control...the previous woman had been terminated because some of the ladies had been telling the owner stories of verbal abuse, and the owner showed up one evening and walked in on a situation...but Helen didn't like change, and she certainly didn't like me. "No one else can take care of me like she did." If I had a nickel for every time I heard this....

I felt sorry for her; her family was in another part of the state, and she was lonely and her memory was much better than that of the other ladies in the house. She scoffed at them and spent every waking moment outside of meals in her room. As I would clean her room, I would try to make small talk with her, and once or twice tried to get her to open up to me about her unhappiness, but she was not very receptive.

One night Helen said she'd noticed blood in her stool and I called her doctor then sent her to the ER. I made arrangements for someone else to come to the house to be with the residents, and I drove to the hospital to be with Helen. She was so scared, and looked even tinier than usual. I sat beside her and held her hand and tried to keep her mind off her fear. At one point, Helen squeezed my hand and said, "You're so kind to stay with me, and I've been so mean to you." I don't remember what I said in return, but I did stay until she was admitted.

She returned to the house a few days later. It would make a really nice story if i told you that from then on, Helen was a changed woman and our relationship blossomed, but alas, that wasn't to be. Within two days, she was reminding me that no one else could take care of her like the former manager (and it had been almost a year since I'd come to work there).

Eventually, Helen's daughter decided to move her to a facility near her town, which was great for Helen, because she had no visitors the entire time I was there. Can you imagine how lonely she must have been?

Helen had been gone about a week when the phone rang one evening, and I answered it to hear a woman crying. It was Helen. She said, "I hate it here...no one can take care of me the way you did...."