Wednesday without LOST :(

No more new LOST episodes until February! I'm in serious mourning. We will be re-watching season 2 episodes until we can get the season 3 dvds and re-watch those.

Today was beautiful, although we never got the rain we needed and were supposed to get. The good side of that is that I got a lot of weeding done, and I didn't think I was going to be able to work outside tonight. I actually enjoy weeding. Time flies when I'm working in the garden, and weeding, especially, is meditative for me. I have a hard time stopping once I get started. The only part I don't like is the never-endingness of it--like housework. By the time you get the last area weeded, the first is infested again. Luciana chatted with me and worked on her "karate" moves while I worked. It's so nice to be outside with my girl.

Sweetie-cat went to the vet tonight, and she was NOT a happy girl. She's all set--immunized and de-wormed. Now I just have to wait for the FIV and and FeLV test results. They will be in tomorrow or Friday. The wait really, really sucks. She was a little miffed at me after we got home, but she got over it and was her cuddly, sweet self again by bedtime. She's a smart little bugger! I tried to take some pictures of her, but she hated the flash. After the second pic, she took off and hid under L's bed. I waited 3 or 4 hours and went back in to try again, as I wasn't thrilled with the first two pics I got. As soon as she saw me put the camera up to eye level, she took off under the bed again. I will probably be stuck with the two measly pics I have, because I don't want to upset her with the flash. If we get a bright, sunny day before she goes to her new home, I may get lucky with some shots. My Baxter boy has to go in tomorrow morning to get his teeth cleaned. I have to put all the food up, as he can't eat anymore tonight. I'm going to have five angry little men in the morning!

Today was just crazy! After I got home from work, then home from the vet, while making dinner, first Woods stopped by (unexpected, but very welcome). L was ecstatic to see Kayla and Emily! We will be going to their house Saturday for a cookout, and Luciana is SO excited. Then, Julie stopped by (again, unexpected, but very welcome) to set up our lunch plans for Friday. She had Lola with her, as they had just left the vet's--we must have just missed each other there. It was nice to see Lola again--she's such a cutie. Then my parents dropped by. It was like Grand Central Station. I felt very popular, briefly :)

I was devastated to find that there is another report of a person finding sick/dying puppies tossed in the dumpster behind Petland. This time there were three puppies--she heard whimpering coming from the dumpster and found them. Mike Sardina, the human piece of shit who owns the store, told the woman that she could not remove the three puppies from the dumpster. She returned after closing to find that two of the puppies had died, but she was able to save one. The police are now involved (FINALLY), but I don't hold out much hope, as they have been about as helpful as mesh condoms with most animal abuse/neglect issues. They simply don't care unless it is something that generates income for the department, like those ever dangerous speeders and rolling stoppers. I am so fed up with Petland.

My lack of knowledge sucks!

Luciana is so good at making me feel stupid! I like to think I'm a fairly intelligent, well-educated person. I try to learn new things every single day. Yet my child asks me so many questions every day that I cannot answer. Probably on average, I say, "I don't know. We'll have to look it up.", three times a day or so. I certainly don't mind looking things up and learning, but it overwhelms me to be constantly reminded of just how much I don't know!

L. Today: "Who invented braces?"
Me: "I don't know. We'll have to look it up."
It was a French man, named Paul Fauchard, in 1728.

L. Today: "Mommy, you know those ancient guys who wore ferns like this **showing me by putting ferns, ripped from the garden, over each ear**? How long do they last?"
Me: "You mean the Greeks--the ones who wore the togas that look like sheets?"
L.: "Yeah! Why did they do that?"
Me: "Even though they look like ferns, they are a made from a plant called acanthus. I guess they made them, because they thought it looked nice, just like we wear hats or jewelry."
L.: "But how long did they last?"
Me: "I would guess not very long, but I don't know if they did something special to preserve them. Ask Daddy, he might know." **He didn't, so...** "Let's look it up later."
I still haven't been able to find the answer to that one.

Dejanique had to work tonight--just got home. She "fixed a whole wall of jeans and made them perfect." Okay, super, but she can't pick up the clothing littering her entire bedroom floor?

We spent from after dinner until bedtime working out in the garden. A lot of weeding and a little planting. We got our veggies and cantaloupe planted tonight. We have a few left to plant, but those are going in containers to speed up the crop. We still haven't gotten our soil for containers. Since Luciana's plants far exceed the space in her garden, we gave her a second garden area. We moved the vegetable garden from the back yard to the south side of the house, and planted only cantaloupe in the old veggie garden. She gets the remainder of the old veggie garden, which should give her plenty of space for plants. I'm betting it's a lot more space than she will weed. While we were working in the old veggie garden tonight, a sphynx moth walked up my arm. We looked at it, and then I gave it to her to look at it closer and hold. No sooner did it get on her arm, than it peed/pooped (not sure which--I'll have to look it up) down her arm. We had a good laugh at that one. The moth seemed pretty content to hang out with us, even after we put it down. We left her in a safe spot, in a patch of weeds I have not yet attacked, when we came in for bed.

Our Sweetie-cat continues to become more sweet, loving, and brave every day. I was able to get her a vet check tomorrow after work. By the end of the week (unless we get unexpected bad health news) she will be in her forever home. It's going to be SO HARD to give her up! She has the coolest personality, and she's a talker, which I just love. She's been crying for me at the bedroom door, and it's just killing me to keep her separated like this. The girls and I keep going in to sit with her, so she isn't lonely, but she just wants to be with the rest of us all the time. She's also VERY curious about the other cats outside her door. Pictures of her cuteness tomorrow!

Les was interviewed by the Janesville Gazette about the upcoming Zor Shrine circus. Yea Les! We (WAEN) have protested/battled them every year, and I'm pretty sure we feel an equal antipathy toward one another. I'm excited to see how the interview came off and how they present the story. We'll be thrilled with even remotely fair coverage and are nervously hoping they didn't butcher her words too much. The Gazette is notorious for screwing up and rephrasing, so that your printed words bear little resemblance to your spoken words.

Love-in-a-Mist (nigella) is one of my favorite annuals. First of all, what a cool name. Second, it's EASY. Just toss seeds in the garden and forget about them. They reseed themselves, so you will have them in perpetuity, but they're not invasive. I went out to take a pic of one of the roses--Double Delight, but these were calling my name.

Memorial Day

We've had a busy few days. They went very fast, partly because weekends just work that way, but partly because we spent so much time outside enjoying the weather/nature that time just flew by.

Saturday Maria and her daughter, Hannah, came over for a while. Luciana and Hannah had fun playing together. They're both bright and creative, so despite the almost four-year age difference. They seem to enjoy each other. It's always nice chatting with Maria, too. Mark had to work the whole day, so it was nice to have someon there to break up the dullness of chores.

After Maria & Hannah left, we picked Allegrea up and went to pick up the rescue kitty. The poor little girl was left with someone who was supposed to cat sit. The owners never returned to get the cat, though, so the guy who had her threw her outside. She was an indoor cat, who had been declawed. She was out on her own for at least three weeks but came back crying at the doors/windows, as she wanted back in the house. He decided he didn't want her around, so a good solution would be to shoot her in the head. His nephew's girlfriend found out and was worried about the cat and mentioned it to Allegrea's sister. So we picked up this poor, confused, frightened kitty. We know nothing at all about her history, age, not even her name. She's as sweet and loving as she could possibly be. She is so precious--We're in love with her. She is staying with us in Luciana's room until I can get her in for a vet check. Once she's got a clean bill of health, we have a forever home lined up for her. She will move in with a lady who I've known most of my life. She's such a sweet person and deeply loves cats. She has one boy cat--her girl cat died--and doesn't work, so she has lots of time to cuddle her babies. This kitty is so wonderful, that if it wasn't Judy that was taking her, I don't think I could give her up. She's a very, very fat tabby, with a very uniquely cute face. She just can't seem to get enough of love and cuddles!

Sat. night was our date night, but Mark was so tired from working so much lately that we started the evening with a nap. We went out for dinner and came home and watched videos. It was pretty uneventful.

Sunday was full of chores, weeding, and plant shopping. Allegrea came over Sunday night to join us outside for the fire. It was a perfect night to sit outside and talk. As always, she is a great story teller and was very entertaining. I hurt my stomach muscles from laughing too much. We also enjoyed lots of cuddle time with our sweetie-cat (I don't want to name her, because Judy should, but I've been calling her sweetie).

This morning we went to Jenka Blossoms (in Lima Center) to get plants with my parents. We brought our plants back to Janesville and then headed in the other direction to Flower Factory and Enchanted Valley. Luciana was a shopping fool! She helped herself to any plants that appealed to her and got many, many more than would fit in her garden. Mark doesn't like to discourage her interest in plants by curtailing her purchases. Today would have been about half the price, had she not shopped with us! We are now set for plants, but I would still like to get a tree this year. We were going to Stone Wall nursery to pick out a tree, but they were closed today. Now I really have to get moving in the garden, as I have to clear out all the weeds and get all this stuff planted, SOON!

Luciana couldn't wait to get her stuff planted and begged to plant when we got back from plant shopping. We told her we didn't have time right now, as we had to get our animal duties done and head over to my parents' for a cookout. By the time we got everyone fed and ready to go, I noticed that Luciana had planted her ageratum (in her garden), a Jungle Gold impatiens (in our garden), and ornamental kale (in our garden, and not AT ALL where we would have put it). I watered them in tonight and shook my head in wonder at the odd places and reasoning she had for where she put the plants. Everyone had fun at the cookout. Dej didn't join us but enjoyed the cookout leftovers when she returned from Brandon's house tonight.

I'll get some pictures posted of sweetie-cat soon. I just want her calm enough that the flash won't frighten her.

Now I'm really LOST!

So, last night was the much awaited season finale of LOST. In true LOST style, they managed to introduce about 20 more questions without answering any. I need to rewatch and do some serious pondering to try to figure out just what the heck they are pulling with this and where they will go from here. I have 8 months or so to ponder, I guess, before there is any chance of getting more answers from them. I am very unhappy about the ridiculously long wait!

Weds. afternoon, we went to Peace Park for a play date with the homeschool group. Delayney, another 7-yr-old girl who used to be in Luciana's dance class, was there. They said hi to each other when I first arrived (we were a bit late), Luciana kicked her shoes off as Delayney had already done so, and they took off giggling and squealing. They ran around playing, laughing, and had a blast together until it was time to go. I'm so glad she had lots of fun. She asked on the way home if I could schedule a play date with Delayney soon. We will definitely have to do that. They are too cute together.

Today we had a pretty productive day. We did a lot of work with poetry. The poem she is currently memorizing is Robert Frost's, "The Road Not Taken". That's such a wonderful poem and fun to talk about with her. She did some lovely illustrations of it, which will hopefully help her with the memory work. We didn't use pictures on her last poem, but this is longer with much bigger words, so I thought it may be a good time to introduce mental imagery. Her story problems this week were at the end of 3rd grade/beginning of 4th grade-level, and she whipped right through them. I planned inside activities for today, as it was supposed to be rainy/stormy all day. It didn't rain until this evening, but it was terribly windy throughout the day. Tomorrow should be clear and nice, though, so other than piano lessons, I have mostly outside activities planned.

The ridiculously cruel Zor Shrine Circus, usually inflicts itself on Janesville on Memorial Day. For the last several Mem. Days, we have had two protests--one for each show. This year, they are coming next Thursday, instead, so we have Mem. Day free for the first time in a long time. That will be kind of nice. We will still have the protests Thursday.

If people were only more aware of the training methods used and the conditions in which these poor animals must live and travel, circuses would disappear. They would go the way of the other cruelly-outdated forms of entertainment once enjoyed by uneducated/unevolved humans--the barbaric coliseum matches of ancient Rome, public hangings, etc. The ironic part is that, much like zoos and nasty pet stores like Petland, people go to these places because they like animals. They just aren't able or willing to think it through logically to the realization that, while it is great to see/experience animals, if it hurts the animals, it's not okay. The sheer number of people who are willing to go through life with blinders on, because learning the truth may take a bit of effort or may cause them a bit of guilt, constantly amazes me. Knowledge truly is power and is the most important thing that one can acquire, yet it seems the majority of people actually hide from knowledge rather than seek it out.

Tonight we (Mark, the girls, my parents, and myself) attended the Rotary Botanical Gardens volunteer dinner. Mark did a great job on his program, as usual, and it's obvious how much he is loved and respected by all affiliated with the gardens. We got a chuckle out of the "vegan" meal that the caterers brought: potatoes and carrots with an orange wedge. They just took the meat portion away and tossed some extra baby carrots on. We're used to that, but it does make me chuckle--only in the midwest (Madison excluded, of course) would anyone call that a vegan dinner. I got a peek into one of Dej's sketch books that she brought with her to alleviate her boredom. Wow! I have to try to find that one and sneak some scans of it. There is some amazing art in there. There is also some of her trippy, kind-of-scary art, too. It's very well done, but not so much my thing.

Oh, and for my Ms. Snotty-Pants commenter on the last post (you know who you are). Maybe, just maybe, someday, you will be worthy of viewing MY dingo picture ;)

Tonight's pic is of the azalea bush Mark got me for Mother's Day last year. I just love the color. The blooms are slightly past prime in this photo, but still pretty. Behind it is the reliable but slightly invasive geranium phaeum. The roses are starting to open this week, so I need to get out and get some pics of those. They are stunning already! The garden continues to produce weeds at an alarming and unbelievable rate, so I will have more weeding to do over my four-day weekend than I care to think about.

Doorky Dogy

This is a dingo. Luciana wanted to sit on the patio and draw tonight, rather than playing a game. She had a book from the library on showing how to draw animals step-by-step. It claimed to be easy--yeah, right. She picked a dingo for us to draw. I've certainly never tried to draw a dingo before. After a great deal of erasing, we each finished our drawing. She was pretty unhappy with hers and was upset that it wasn't as good as mine (and no, mine was not good!). I pointed out the obvious--that I had many more years of practice with drawing, my fine-motor skills were more developed than hers (followed by my attempt to distract her with detailed explanations of brain development and muscle control). She was not comforted. She just crumpled into sobs of disappointment that her dingo was ugly. I really do think it's cute and she did a good job. I want to reiterate that these were NOT easy! I was really sad that our pleasant time outside on a perfect night was ruined for her. I finally got her feeling better by bedtime, and she was back to her usual giggly self again. She did find time, however, to label her picture. We haven't yet had "dorky" or "doggy" as spelling words :)

Dejanique is working tonight until 9. We found out today that little miss happy pants decided to skip part of the school day yesterday, after forging a note from her father that said she had a dentist appointment. Clever. I'm surprised it took her this long to try the forged note. She will be getting in trouble at school tomorrow, as Mark informed them that he did not write that note. She reassured us today that it was "no biggie" because she didn't miss anything--really, she checked with all her teachers today. Oh, good. I feel so much better. What a turd! Back on lockdown we go, so she will be spreading her sunshine around here again for the foreseeable future. I really don't understand why she thinks she would get away with this, as as ALWAYS track her absences and call to check on anything that is odd or unaccounted for. Teenagers truly are delusional!

My parents have finished season 2 of LOST and are chomping at the bit for season 3. Soon, they will be caught up so we can actually talk about it.

Back to the grind

Today found me back at work after a long (not productive) weekend. Mark and my baby left Saturday for a Dwyer visit, and they didn't return until after Luciana's bedtime Saturday. Dejanique had to work Saturday and Sunday, and Brandon was here Saturday night. I got the lucky job of staying home to play chauffeur and to babysit Dejanique and the animals. At this point, we don't feel it would be wise to leave D. home alone for any significant length of time--especially over the weekend. That's just asking for trouble.

We did get to spend a little more time together than we usually do on the weekends, so that was good. She went to the BTC graduation with me Saturday afternoon, as some of my former students were graduating and were hoping I could attend. We went to Carrie's graduation party afterward. It was at the Hog Cabin--a (Harley) biker bar. Denny, Orinda, Dejanique and I got there first and were a bit trepidatious about going in and sticking out like sore thumbs. I had a sleeveless shirt on, which revealed five of my six tattoos, so the joke was that at least I fit in there. :) I had too much to drink, which I NEVER do. I managed to get down a whopping 2.5 beers, which was enough to get me tipsy. I had to sit there for an hour eating crackers and tostitos, so I was good to drive home. How embarrassing. It was enough to make me feel pretty crappy after I got home--sleepy, headachey, nauseous--and remind me again why I don't drink much. Denny stayed at the party longer than we did (had to get home for Brandon's visit) and came over to hang with us after he left the party. The four of us hung out and chatted for a while and had a nice time. After Brandon left at midnight-ish, Dej and I talked and stayed up way too late.

Sunday was full of chores and grading those finals I put off last week. We had a WAEN executive meeting also. It's always great to see Allegrea, Les, and Jason. Jordan, Les's 17 yr old cat, honored me with her presence in my lap throughout most of the meeting. We went out to see Les's pergola being built while Alfie (her dog) showed off for all of us. I just love her furry kids! Her yard and pond were looking gorgeous. It was not a fun day, other than that part. I was so happy my girl finally came home, but it was quite late, so she had to go to bed. I let her stay in our bed, since I hadn't seen her, so of course Mark and I didn't get much rest last night.

Mark took Luciana to her theater class tonight. I was planning to take her, as I usually do, but someone needed to stay here with the kids (Dej & Brandon). Mark did not want to do that. I am really missing L, though. I'm still in withdrawal from this weekend and can't wait until they return. I took a quick blog break but need to get back out and weed some more before they get back. I am realizing that no matter how much I week, I simply can't keep ahead of the garden. I don't think it's a one-person job.

Okay, back from weeding. I must have pulled another 10 pounds of weeds tonight. I cleared out the rock garden, the rose garden, part of Luciana's crescent garden, the patio, and a section of the north garden. My arms are both ripped open and bloody--unavoidable when weeding in the rose garden. Things are blooming and looking beautiful already (except the weeds!). Tonight's picture is of one of the clematis (Nelly Moser) flowers in the north garden.

I guess now it's time to go break up the fight between Luciana and Ivan. She's using the furminator on him (works great!), and he loves it for a while but then when he's had enough, he turns into a giant ass. She picks back, and they will go on fighting like siblings, teasing and taunting. Ivan gets a scolding, and I get to take my girl up to read our bedtime chapters.

A perfect, spring Friday

One of Luciana's D&D characters is Charlotte, an Egyptian girl. Luciana decided to really get into the role today. She emerged from her bedroom this morning fully dressed, and, I didn't know at the time, but she was decorated as Charlotte. I noticed immediately the "eyeliner" (black marker) she had on. The clothes actually stayed on until dinner tonight, which is a long time for her to wear clothing. Once she was in her underwear, the full glory of Charlotte was revealed. Not only did she have the Egyptian eye thing going on, but she had Egyptian tattoos on her legs. She drew a scorpion, a camel, a snake, and a dolphin. I'm not totally sure on why those are all Egyptian, but it works for her.

She told me today while we were driving to El Jardin for our Friday lunch, that when she gets old enough to have tattoos, she will have four of them: a brownish red snake that wraps around her stomach, a dragon on the inside of each wrist, and a tarantula on the back of her neck. Okay! She is quite original. Mark has a dragon on his back, and I have a tat on the back of my neck, but all similarities end there. None of our friends, many of whom are also heavily inked, have any of those types of tattoos. That's all her.

I got a lot of housework and weeding done today, but never nearly enough. I started the morning off with a nice long phone call from Kathy. Luciana spent a good portion of the day reading her Ramona book. She's really enjoying the book, and I'm so happy that she's taken to independent reading. We didn't even pick our next poem today, because she was so into the book, I didn't want to disturb her little groove.

Mark is picking Dejanique up from work right now, and our friend, Pat, is coming over any minute. Luciana is in bed and will hopefully get to sleep before Pat arrives. I am stuck upstairs until she goes down.

Oh for the love of god! Petey just knocked something over downstairs again. I just heard a big thump, and he's the only cat that's not in my sight right now. He also managed to lose yet another collar this week! His latest joy is tipping over the kitchen trash and digging through. He will eat almost anything and learned that he can find treasures in there.

UGH!! Pat just got here a bit early, and Mark hasn't yet returned with Dej. I had to send him downstairs with my farting dogs to hang out and watch TV until Mark returns or Luciana gets to sleep. Dej apparently also has friends coming over to hang out, but since we had our plans first, she will have to hang out with them upstairs--at least until the little one gets to sleep. I'm feeling a bit chaotic right now!

When your mom wants to take a picture dammit,

you let her take your picture! Yes, Dejanique. That means you. I gave you life. I even birthed you naturally, yet it's oh, too much to ask for a picture of you on your first day of work. Well, that's fine, as I'm a good improviser. Yeah, that's right, if you had only let me get one good picture, I wouldn't have had to use your self-portrait (the one that everyone but you likes). So here it is--another contraband surreptitious scan of the artwork.

She made it through the first day of training. It was "long and boring" (three hours and forty-five minutes), and she "just watched films". I can see how that would be long and boring. I'm sure it will get more interesting soon. She looked beautiful in her work clothes (the grandma clothes), by the way. I will keep trying for a picture, as evidence that the child does wear something other than jeans.

My doctor's appointment this morning didn't reveal much and didn't offer much hope. I have to go back tomorrow for a CT scan, which I am totally dreading. Pending the results of tomorrow's scan, they can offer me bigger and badder prescriptions. Now there's a surprise--a western medicine practicioner offering you a lifetime of prescription medication dependence. I think I'll pass on that one. The pharmaceutical industry, who owns, sponsors, and controls western medicine, is running the greatest scam of all time. A country full of comfortably numb drug addicts sure can't/won't fight back. It's maniacally brilliant actually. I choose not to participate in their legal addiction campaign. Let them create misery via chemical poisoning--I can't stop that, but I'll be damned if I'm going to put anymore money into their twisted, evil pockets. Yeah, I'm on a tangent and I'm pissed. They are seriously one of the most evil, powerful entities in our country and government today, and that is saying a lot! When I'm feeling less pissy and less lazy, I will put some interesting links out on this topic.

I went out for lunch with my friend, Pat, today. He's back from the West Coast. The company was good. The food--eh. I so envy his ability to be more militant and active in the movement than I am currently able to be. I'm not a good position for that right now, but once my kids are out and taking good care of themselves--maybe then.

After lunch Luciana and I played a ton of math games, practiced piano, and had some independent reading time. She did a great job memorizing her first poem and her list of helping verbs. We will pick out a new poem tomorrow. She also told me that she needs more verbs to learn. I explained that the helping verbs were special, but the regular verbs were just action words (which she knows), and there are way too many to memorize. She said, "How about a list of nouns then?" I reminded her what nouns are, and she said, "Oh, I guess that's a ton." Maybe we'll work on the states next. Memory work is such good brain training, and as long as she's enjoying it, I want to ride the wave.

Only 2 episodes of LOST left!

Today was another blah, cloudy, rainy day. Mark was happy for the rain, and while I know our garden needed it, it doesn't make me feel very cheerful. I was home yesterday with a migraine and some of the worst menstrual cramps I've ever had, and that's saying a lot. Still only feeling about 30% today. I have a doctor's appointment in the morning for my headaches. While I hate and have no faith in western medicine, I need head X-rays. Since Dr. Jill can't do X-rays, I have to see Dr. Ellison. Once I know what's going on, I can work with Dr. Jill on fixing it.

My little diddle-butt is lying in bed next to me--again, she should have been asleep already but isn't. After we read tonight, she said a phrase I hear often, during our cuddle times, "Mommy, tickle my little back". For some reason, though, tonight, as I was tickling her little back, I flashed back to my childhood. I vividly remember Grandma R. tickling my back, whenever I spent the night there. She always had nice hands; soft, small, nicely shaped nails, which I contrasted with my large man hands. Anway, she would always tickle my back as she told these stories about a little girl name 'Amy', that she made up. There was usually a moral/lesson of some sort snuck into the stories. I remember as I child really looking forward to the special bedtime routine of back tickles and stories. I also liked to play games with her, particularly Aggravation, even though she did cheat.

Today's picture is of Oliver. As you can see, Ivan isn't the only one who likes the My Little Ponies. Ivan left a pony unattended, and Oliver took it and hid under the chair with it. I have probably the fewest pictures of him, because I have a hard time getting good pictures. I think because he's all black, it's harder to get a good pic that shows his cute little features. He has stunning green eyes. He is the sweetest-natured, most loving little guy. He was a stray that I was feeding outside and was skinny and ratty. I took him to the vet to get him neutered, have shots, and all the other necessary stuff done, but figured since he was an outside stray, he would want to be an outside cat. One horribly cold, sleeting November night, after I came home from class, I saw him sitting outside the door with his entire back covered in sleet/snow and frozen solid. I brought him in the house, thinking he would be stir crazy and ask to go back out. He never asked to go out again. He's been a strictly indoor cat now for 1.5 years and will continue to be for the rest of his sweet life. I am so happy he picked us to live with. He's a chubby, round boy now, but he's happy. He gets along with all four of his brothers and is always kind to everybody (humans and non-humans).

HELP from friends & family (especially those in the CHICAGO AREA)

Please, oh please take a minute from your torture-free, confinement-free lives to help the victims of FOIE GRAS--a monstrous and barabaric food made from the livers of tortured geese. See the bulletin below that I received, and PLEASE take action. Take two minutes out of your pleasant day to help these poor, voiceless victims, who live every minute of their lives in torment, fear, and suffering!


Please take a moment to read the message below from Alderman Joe
Moore, the sponsor of Chicago's foie gras ban. We need to show our support for the ban by calling the numbers below, as well as our own aldermen, this
weekend for a possible last minute vote to try and repeal the ban this Monday
morning. With enough calls left over the weekend, the Aldermen's offices are
sure to let the aldermen know about our concerns before the vote.

Foie gras is made by force-feeding massive amounts of grain mush to
ducks and geese several times a day for a month, until their livers become
engorged up to ten times their normal size. These diseased livers sometimes
burst from the pressure and cause the birds immense suffering. You will
never see footage of the birds who have been force-fed for several weeks
played by any proponent of this cruelty. The birds' necks are sometimes
ripped through from the rigid pipes rammed down their throats, and the
birds can barely walk and gasp for breath.

The Chicago City Council banned the sale of foie gras after viewing
footage of the birds suffering. No animal deserves to be treated the way foie
gras production requires.

Visit the following webpages to learn more about foie gras and exactly
what happens to the animals. You can also view video footage on the sites.

http://nofoiegras.com/
and
http://banfoiegras.com/

No compassionate individual would knowingly support this practice
after learning the facts.

Below is a letter from Joe Moore explaining the situation and the need
for our calls. Please contact your representative, as well as the aldermen
who are considering repealing the ban and let them know that you oppose
animal cruelty.

Also, for clarities sake, please explain that you oppose animal
cruelty on the phone and say that you are in favor of this humane ban. We have found that the operators taking these messages are taking them incorrecty. We recommend asking the operator to read your message back to you.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Daniel Hauff
Director of Campaigns
Mercy For Animals
www.MercyForAnimals.org
(773) 991-7352

Dear Friend,

I got word late yesterday that Chicago Alderman Edward Burke has announced his intention to call for a City Council vote on to repeal Chicago's ban on the sale of foie gras. The vote is scheduled to take place early Monday morning.

As you may recall, Aldermen Bernard Stone and Burton Natarus introduced an ordinance a few months ago to repeal Chicago's historic ban on the sale of foie gras, which passed the City Council last year. The ordinance was referred to the City Council Committee on Health, chaired by Alderman Ed Smith. Alderman Smith has been a staunch supporter of the foie gras ban and has so far refused to hold a hearing on the repeal ordinance.

Alderman Burke confirmed that either he or a colleague may invoke a little-used City Council rule that permits an alderman to move to "discharge" from committee any proposed ordinance that has been in a City Council committee for more that sixty days. To be successful, a motion to discharge a matter from committee requires the support of a majority of those voting on the issue. If the motion is successful, the matter is brought to the floor of the City Council for a debate and vote. To become law, the repeal must obtain 26 votes, i.e., a majority of the City Council.

Mayor Daley's former chief-of-staff, Sheila O'Grady, just became the new Executive Director of the Illinois Restaurant Association and is pushing to have a vote taken on the foie gras ordinance before the new City Council takes over next week. She likely has Mayor Daley's support.

Alderman Ed Smith informed me he will strongly oppose any attempt to discharge the foie gras repeal ordinance from his committee. Alderman Stone, one of the co-sponsors of the repeal, also told me he will oppose the motion to discharge. As I indicated, a motion to discharge a matter from committee over the strong objections of the committee chair is almost unheard of. Alderman Smith is well-respected among his colleagues, and it is likely that a majority of the City Council will oppose the motion to discharge out of respect for Alderman Smith.

Nevertheless, we can't take anything for granted. We need to flood Mayor Daley, Alderman Ed Burke and other members of the City Council with calls opposing any effort to repeal the foie gras ban. The City Council meeting begins 8:30 Monday morning, so you need to call this weekend.

Call Mayor Daley at 312-744-5000.

Call Alderman Ed Burke at 773-471-1414.

If you live in Chicago, also call your Alderman's neighborhood office. If you don't have his or her phone number, call 311 and ask for your alderman's ward office phone number, or click on this link:

http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalProgramAction.do?BV_Sessi
onID=@@@@1718765390.1179011486@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceaddklmdllkicefecelldffhdf
gm.0&programId=536879154&channelId=-536879035&topChannelName=Government

Finally, if you are able to do so, please attend the City Council meeting on Monday at 8:30 a.m.

Please pass this e-mail on to others who may be interested in defeating this attempt to roll back the progress we have made.

I will continue to keep you informed.

Thanks for your continued support.

Alderman Joe Moore

It's only Monday :(

And I have two more days to wait until the next heartstopping episode of LOST. I neglected to mention Wednesday's episode, partially because when I think about it (which is often), the first words that come to mind are WTF!! They are in all caps, because the phrase must be yelled! The other reason is that my parents are watching season 2, trying to get caught up, and I don't want to slip out anything that would ruin it for them. But really, WTF!! Who/what is Jacob. I have no doubt that Locke will rise to be a major player in the season finale, so I'm not worried about him. His is my favorite character, and if TPTB even think about killing Locke off before the last episode, well, it's just too ugly to contemplate. I've watched the last episode twice, and after some things I saw on the message board, I will probably need to watch it again to catch some things I may have missed. I am hopelessly and utterly addicted to this show. It, along with The Office, is the only prime time TV we watch (or are aware of, for that matter). We tape the shows and watch them late at night, so they don't cut into our family time. Thank god Mark and I both vehemently agree that we will not veg out in front of the tv everynight and teach our kids (by our poor example) to live passively. So, it's a bit of a dichotomy that we have such negative opinions of most TV fare, and of the passive American TV lifestyle, but so deeply and truly love LOST.

Picture above is another shot from our Mother's Day lunch at Olive Garden. Doesn't Dej look thrilled to pose for a picture with my brother?

It was strange, yet refreshing, to only have to go to Madison this morning. I still have to grade finals, but other than that, my class is finished. That means I get to Madison earlier in the morning, so I get home earlier. It was wonderful to have the extra time tonight. I had time to make dinner (without being in a rush), chat with Luciana, do a crossword puzzle with Luciana (still working on the sea turtle conservation curriculum unit), feed the dogs and cats, eat, and still get her to her theater class on time. It was just the two of us, as Mark decided to go to measure for one of his landscape consulting clients, and Dej and Brandon went to hang out with Levi and Jessica. It was early release, and we were supremely uncool by saying that she and Brandon could not hang out here alone for two hours. No point in asking for trouble ;)

Luciana isn't enjoying theater class as much as we thought she would. She gets very upset, apparently, that whenever it's her turn to choose and act something out, she wants to be an animal, but her teacher says, "No animals, we need to be people." L. says whenever they start the activity, Elsie (her teacher) says they can be anything they choose. "Anything, mom!" But when she starts acting as an animal, Elsie says she has to be a person. L. says the teacher is "crushing her creativity." She further elaborated that whenever she works with a partner, she is always nice and says, "What would you like to do?", but then the partner gets "all bossy and then I become a small ant and they just smash my creativity. It's growing smaller and smaller." Those are Luciana's exact words--I had to jot them down quickly when she told me that, as it was so cute. My poor, dramatic baby!

I read the Rock County Humane Society's newsletter today and several articles from my "Off Our Backs" magazine (one of my favorite). They both kind of bummed me out. There are so many beings who have so little and need so much. I'm feeling very helpless, which is definitely my least favorite way to feel. I also finished the book, "The Secret", while waiting for Luciana at her theater class. It was a decent book. I agree with it, and believe that it works, but I didn't really run across anything completely new. I suppose that's the point of the book--that it's talking about ancient universal laws. I have a hard time focusing on the positive, rather than the negative, so I did view the book as a good reminder to me to try to focus on the positive, thereby creating more positive. I'm trying to figure out how I can apply this thinking to the animal rights movement. It's not coming together for me yet. I may have to ask Allegrea and Les to read it, and see if they can help me see how to apply this. There is so very little that's positive when one considers the state of most animals' existences (and the complicity or complete ambivalence of must humans if/when they bother to consider it).

Science Rocks!

You have to check out this link. I was actually searching through my 'Favorites' for something else but ran across this. It will take you 10-15 minutes, and grab a comfy chair and get ready to take your brain for a ride!!

http://www.tenthdimension.com/flash2.php

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a decent day, despite the cool, overcast, rainy weather. This morning was rushed, as I needed to get all my Sunday chores done before 11:00 a.m., so we could get to Milwaukee in time for dinner. Michael had a "thing" at his church, since it was his last day there, and my parents went to his church. We surprised my mom by meeting them all for lunch at Olive Garden in Milwaukee, so she could have the whole family together. The penne arrabiata is definitely better at the Janesville O.G. than Milwaukee--there was barely any garlic and it wasn't spicy. I live for the tons and tons of garlic that Janesville puts in the sauce. We didn't have too much of a wait, though, where in Janesville, we would NEVER have gotten a table for 11 on Mother's Day! I got a very cute hand-painted cat from Luciana, a bird feeder (which I really needed) from Dejanique, and a coupon for a free tattoo from Mark. I don't have any inspirations yet for another tattoo, so I will hold on to it until an idea hits.

My parents came by this evening with some chocolate/fudgy cake for dessert, as we were all too full to have dessert at Olive Garden. As soon as we finished our cake, Dejanique left with some friends to go play frisbee golf. I guess at her age, I can't expect her to spend a WHOLE day with me--that's just torture. If she is indeed frolfing, I'm very happy that she's doing something outside that's healthy and active. You never really know what a teen is doing, though, once they are out of sight. Luciana spent a good portion of the evening playing with her cats/lions and an empty two gallon water jug (with five holes in the bottom--she was very specific that it should have five holes) in the bathtub.

As I think about and reflect on mother's day, I'm very grateful that I had a wonderful, loving mother, who helped me navigate the world and become a good mother to my own children. I'm grateful also that my husband was lucky enough to have a good mother, too, who helped him become a wonderful husband and father. Our children are beyond blessed to have two fantastic Grandmas, and anyone who knows me, knows that I think good Grandmas are about the greatest gift in the world! I love that I have the coolest kids ever! I wanted girls, and I got girls--not just girls, but two very unique, fun, talented, bright girls. They are both like me in some ways and very unlike me in many ways, and it intrigues me to watch them develop.

I want to help my girls be the best they each can be, without changing any of their unique attributes. I hope I am able to help them experience as much as possible without experiencing anything that will close doors for future possibilities. I want them, when they go out on their own, to walk into a life that has so many possibilities that they can choose from, that they are free to pursue the best path for them. I hope that I can protect them from any experiences/mistakes that may close doors for them. I hope that in the course of living their lives, they remember that the reason we are here at all is to try to make the world a better place than it was when we got here. Sometimes I get overwhelmed and wonder if I am doing anything right! I guess with motherhood, it's all about trusting your gut instincts, having a lot of faith, and saying the serenity prayer--sometimes several times a day! I have no doubt whatsoever that, even including the mistakes she made, she ALWAYS did the very best she could, and she always had my best interest at heart. I think, most of all though, I hope my girls can always say the same of me.

We've had this nest on our front porch light for a couple of years now. I don't know if the same finches return to use it or if it's a new group, but it's fun to watch. The babies are at such a cute stage right now, and we love to hear their little squeaks for food. They really keep mom and dad busy. These are the purple finches. We also saw a male and a female golden finch, together on the weeping birch out front. We have had the same starling living in the overhang of our garage for a few years now. S/he has been there for multiple years and seems to live there year round. There's a nest full of babies now. I can hear them everytime I go to the driveway or garage and frequently hear their little cheeps when I'm out in the back yard. My favorite part of the garden (and main reason for it) is watching the outdoor critters use and enjoy it. We get to enjoy so many different kinds of animals in our yard. I like to think our gardens provide them as much happiness as they provide us.

Today was about 70 and sunny and was perfect for working outside. Mark and I worked out in the yard most of the day. Luciana alternated between helping, riding her bike, riding her scooter, and going in the house to see what her sister & company were doing. Dej has had Brandon here all day, and for a while, Levi and Jessica were here too. I got tons of weeding done, but still didn't make a dent in what's out there. Mark focused on pruning (he doesn't weed), and managed to almost refill the freshly emptied trailer.

When Brandon's mom dropped him off, she had his little sister, Morgan, (who's also 7) with her too. Luciana and Morgan got to meet and they were pretty cute together. They wanted to play, but Tressa and Morgan has other plans today. We'll have to get the girls together soon, as they are both bubbly and friendly, and I think they will enjoy each other.

We grilled veggie burgers out on the grill, I made baked french fries, and we ate outside. Mark built a fire in our outdoor fireplace and we enjoyed the day outside until bedtime. Luciana really wanted to cook chocolate over the fire for dessert, and it really took some work to convince her that that wouldn't work very well.

I love Fridays!

Dejanique: Mooo-oom! Luciana just put my toothbrush in the toilet.
Me: On purpose?
D: Yep.
Me: Luciana! Come downstairs right now.

L: [comes downstairs, very calmly stands in front of me with shoulders back, spine straight, and looks me in the eye] Yes?
Me: Explain, please.
L: Well, she always just helps herself to my stuff: headbands, ponytails, my boombox, jewelry, without my permission, so I was paying her back.
Me: Did she just take something of yours?
L: No, but she does that sometimes.

Me: So you felt that throwing her toothbrush in the toilet, out of the clear blue, would be an appropriate way to pay her back?
L: Yes.
Me: If your sister helps herself to your things again, tell ME, so I can deal with it. It's not your job to pay people back. Now, go upstairs and apologize to your sister.
L: [stomps upstairs and mumbles without moving her lips] sorry.
Me: [alone in the kitchen, laughing my ass off]

My math/weeding actitivity that I had planned for yesterday did not go as well as I hoped. L lost interest in weeding after about 10 minutes. We were only working on the play area, weeding easy stuff from the woodchips. I was doing the hard stuff--digging out dandelions and grass. She was supposed to put each different weed in its own bucket: boxelder seedlings, maple seedlings, clover, & creeping charlie. We would then count and graph the weeds and try to figure out, based on logical thinking and observation why the distribution was as it was. We would then create a pie chart with the weeds themselves and determine which weeds had the biggest surface area. We will finish this, but we ran out of time when we were about 90% finished. Maybe after a break, she will be more excited about it. She normally loves to pull up the easy weeds from wood chipped areas.

She already spent her tooth fairy money. She had found a necklace at Earth Song, last time she went with Mark, that she fell in love with. It's a glass, sapphire blue vial, with metal scrollwork. It's used to hold essential oils and stuff like that. She couldn't wait to get out there to buy it, as soon as she found that she had enough money. We had to fill it up right away with some essential oil we made from the lilacs. Oh, the tooth fairy left some fairy dust for her too, which thrilled her to no end.

Dej and I went out to Kohl's tonight to purchase a few work outfits for her. We got four complete outfits, which I think is a decent start. That should get her through a week or two. If she wants more than that, she can build her wardrobe with her own money--now that she's a rich working girl. I can't wait to actually see her in the clothes. They are very cute, and she looks fabulous in everything! Despite the fact that they are very stylish and were from the juniors dept., she keeps calling them "Grandma clothes". Apparently anything that's not jeans and hippie-ish, is a "grandma outfit". Welcome to the real, old peoples' world, Dejanique. I met another vegan, though, on our outing. The girl who checked us at Kohl's saw my Vegan bracelet and asked me if we are the only two vegans in Janesville. The poor girl just moved her a month ago and is obviously suffering from (lack of) culture shock. Janesville is not a kind place to those who are progressive. I gave her our group's website and my cell phone and reassured her that there is a group of us in the area--not too many, but enough to have a family and keep your sanity.

My husband just roused from his nap. Luciana is spending the night at my mom & dad's, and Dejanique is out with Brandon and a group of friends. It's time for the man and I to go out and find something for dinner.

To come tomorrow...some precious pictures of the baby finches in the nest on our front porch light!

Happy Birthday Ivan!

Ivan at 2 days; 3 weeks; and almost 3 years

Three years ago today, Ivan was born and abandoned, for some reason(s) we will never know. Of all my critters, his birthday is the only one I truly know. I never suspected (and would have laughed had you told me) that three years later, he and four additional naughty-boy cats would be the official heads of our household, and I would be the hopelessly crazy cat lady. Crazy bird lady, yes. Crazy animal lady, even, yes. But cats!! No way! What an interesting journey it has been. I went from knowing next to nothing about cats to caring round the clock for a newborn kitten. The syringe feeding of KMR wasn't a stretch, as I have nursed/dropper fed many types of animals. Beyond that, though, it was all foreign territory. I remember his frequent crying for food, "reeeaaar, reeeaar". I still don't know if most young kittens say, "reear" instead of "meow", or if that was just Ivan. By the time he was old enough to be weaned (8 weeks, but he continued his bedtime feedings for a few months), and I still hadn't found a home for him, our fate was sealed. That is probably the only way in the universe that I would have allowed a predatorial animal to live in my haven for prey animals. Once I cracked open that door, four other boys soon followed. Notice how I am placing the blame on the sneaky cats, rather than my pushover self;)

Ivan is now a big, strong 11 pound boy and has few remnants of the tiny newborn, who looked more like a rodent than a cat. He still has the precious multi-colored nose, and the white spot on his back that seems to embarass him (no, really--but I don't feel like explaining it). He runs the house like a crotchety dictator, with the other cats "pussy footing" (ha ha ha) around him--literally--except for... wait for it... Petey. Petey does not show Ivan the proper respect, and Ivan hates him for it. They scuffle over it now and then, but nobody comes away with worse than a little nose scratch--usually with nothing though. As much as we love Ivan, we realize that he is an ass to everyone but the four human members of our family. He's ferocious with strangers and feels it's his job to guard us and our house. He enjoys playing with his brothers, but only when he feels like it, how he feels like it, and when he initiates it.

He seems to still think of himself as more one of us (human) than one of them (cats). He says "bye bye" to me sometimes when I leave the house. Both girls have heard him, but he NEVER does it in front of Mark. So of course Mark likes to say that I imagine it. He also has this weird behavior whenever I do the dishes. He parades back and forth around my feet, while making this stranging, talking like sound whenever I look at him. I swear it's like he's really trying to tell me something, but I just can't understand it. It's very frustrating. As long as I pull up a stool right next to me while I'm washing dishes, he will hop up, sit on the stool, and be quiet and happy. I'm not sure if that's what he wants or if he's just accepting it as the best the 'stupid lady' can do. He loves table food. Almost anything that I eat, he must eat, too. He is very pushy about taking what he wants. He especially loves any kind of bread and goes nuts over donuts. He comes running for "nums" (people food that he likes) but is the only one of the cats who refuses his "treats" (cat food treats). He wants nothing to do with those, while the other boys will come running from anywhere if they hear the "treat" word. One of his cutest Ivanisms is cuddling Luciana's My Little Ponies. If she leaves them out on the floor, he will gather up several of them and cuddle up and go to sleep. He's very comfortable in his manhood.

So, 40 or 50 years from now, when I'm found dead in my house amongst the countless cats, people will say, "How? How did this happen?" You will all know the answer. It was Ivan. Ivan the Terrible. He started the whole thing! It's strange how a tiny orphaned cat can so deeply and profoundly affect one's life. Take it from someone who was cat indifferent up until three years ago, if you don't share your life with cats, you are missing something more wonderful than words could ever begin to describe. I have had just about every kind of domestic (and non-domestic) animal through the years, and there is something so special and uniquely wonderful about cats. Just trust me on this one.

Free parking

My long day at work started with a pleasant surprise. The machine that time stamps the parking tickets was not working. There were guys (5 of them) trying to fix it with no luck, so they gave me a blank parking ticket and told me parking would be free today. Yea! It's only $9, but it sure made my day!

My mom called me at work this morning to tell me that Luciana had a little accident which partially knocked her top front tooth out. She was pretending to be a dog playing frisbee with Grant. When Grant pulled the frisbee away from the 'dog', the 'dog' didn't let go. The tooth ended up stuck sideways and bleeding profusely. I told my mom to put an ice pack on it and let me talk to Luciana, who at that point wasn't about to let anyone touch it. Had I been in Janesville, I would have rushed home, but being in Madison meant an hour before I could get to her, and something had to be done before then. That killed me. After trying unsuccessfully to logically explain why she should let Grandma try to fix it, I could see that was not going to happen. Then I resorted to the tried and true--bribery. I told her that a tooth that was partially knocked out AND required bravery to get it fixed was always rewarded by the tooth fairy. How much of a reward, now... well in my mommy agony and desperation, a number just came out of my mouth--$10. What the hell did I just say? $10? Too late now. That's one of those things that, once out there, cannot gracefully be changed. That did the trick. She bit down on the ice pack as hard as she could, numbing it, and loosening it further. My mom was able to pull it out then. My poor, poor baby--that really hurt her. Once the tooth was out, the profuse bleeding stopped. She was fine after that, and took her tooth into the bathroom to brush it nicely for the tooth fairy. It's now wrapped in tissue in her little treasure chest, waiting for the ridiculously high bribe money from the tooth fairy. My mom took her to Rotary Gardens to have lunch with Mark, so she got to show Daddy her new gap right away. I got a shot of the new (fake) smile tonight. The faint brown spots on her face are remnants of the freckles she drew on last night with a marker.

We enjoyed the evening outside tonight after dinner. Mark did some pruning, I did some weeding, and Luciana built fairy sinks and other accoutrements in the alpine garden. Dejanique stayed in the house on the phone. It is now officially spring, as I have painted my toenails. I am ready!

My girls are so cute!

I actually got them to let me take a picture of them together tonight! They got the giggles, then I got the giggles, and between the three of us laughing, I had a hard time getting a decent picture. Most of the best ones are blurred from me giggling while I was shooting. Luciana had her theater class tonight, and they walked a few blocks down to the Janesville Performing Arts Center. They toured the building, got to say some lines on stage, and then went down to the dressing rooms to put on stage makeup and get dressed up. It looked like they had a lot of fun. Luciana was wearing heavy stage makeup and for some strange reason, didn't want to let me take a picture of her. I talked Dej into taking the picture with her, and then Luciana was fine with the posing. She has some lines to work on this week from her script. She is Christopher Robin but isn't very happy about it. She wanted to be Kanga (the only girl in Winnie the Pooh) and is a bit miffed that she has to be a boy.

Dejanique was offered and accepted a job at JC Penney after her interview today. When she got home, she found that she also had a message from the card shop that she interviewed with last week. She has to call them back to tell them she isn't taking the job. She will start training next week and will be working in the junior/misses department. This will necessitate a new wardrobe, as all Dej has and wears (other than her interview outfit) is jeans, and those won't work for the job. It will be a great experience for her to be held responsible by someone other than us. I'm hoping she matures and does well on the job.

Lori, exec. director of the Alliance for Animals, asked me to be the profiled activist in the spring newsletter. I had to answer a bunch of questions on my background/experiences in animal rights--didn't mind that at all. The bad part, and the part I have put off for a few weeks now, is the picture that is required. I have very, very few pictures of myself over the last few years, and no good pictures. The couple that are decent are of me interacting with my kids or animals, rather than the portrait-type shot that I need for the article. I finally gave up on waiting for a "pretty" day and had Dej shoot a picture of me tonight and sent it out before my sanity kicks in. I keep hoping for a picture that portrays me the way I think of myself--10 years younger and 15 pounds lighter. None of our cameras seem to be able to pull that one off. I do need to make a conscious effort to allow more pictures of myself to be taken, so my children will have some record of what their mother looked like. I'm also guessing that 10 years from now, I will be kicking myself: "Why didn't I take more pictures 10 years ago when I was so much younger and thinner?" I must get over myself, I know, but DAMN! pictures are so traumatic for me!

And sadly, the weekend ends

Luciana and I were working on crafts, and she told me not to look at what she was working on until it was done. When she finished and showed it to me, she said, "Mommy, look! I made you the Twilight Zone." I didn't even need to be told that. Just in case I wasn't clear on what it was, though, she made sure to write it on the back of the picture, "Twilite Sone".

Sundays are always very sad days for me, because I know I have to go back to work on Monday. I have most of Luciana's homeschool work done for the week. I just need to write up her reading comprehension questions. This will be her first week on poetry memorization. She picked a poem by Emily Dickinson, who has always been one of my favorites. I thought she would pick something by Lewis Carroll, as he's pretty silly and fun, and she really likes Alice in Wonderland, but she liked E.D.--probably because of all the nature themes. She's supposed to be cleaning her toy table in the living room, but it looks a lot more like playing than cleaning. I should have weeded today but it was 60 degrees and cloudy all day--very dreary and depressing, so I didn't get weed. I did get a lot done yesterday. Not nearly enough, but enough to really, really make my hands hurt!

Yesterday (Sat.) Mark was in Milwaukee for the day, giving a talk on hostas. He got home around 5:00, and was pretty tired after an already long day. Luciana was, once again, the only child that was at gymnastics. She was pretty silly again. It was just Luciana and Bree, and she gets giddy from all the attention. The girls and I had to run errands after gymnastics, including a stop at Ben Franklin's, which is having its "going out of business" sale. It wasn't a great sale, and they didn't have anything spectacular. The girls each picked out a couple of things for art/crafts, and I got some fun buttons.

Last night was date night. Luciana stayed overnight at my parents', and Dejanique stayed at a friend's. We ran to Kohl's to get Mark an outfit and then went to dinner. We got to El Jardin to find it was packed full with people and a long wait. We decided not to stay and went to Pizza Hut (not good at all). In hindsight, we realized that Jardin was so packed because of Cinco de Mayo. We went to Denny & Susan's after that for our own Cinco de Mayo party. We had fun there, but the long drive home always sucks.

Mark's planning to watch Eragon later--he rented it today, and I will get my grading done and finish up writing the final exam, provided Luciana gets to sleep at a reasonable time.

My Little Monkey

Luciana is near the top, on the right, in the top picture.

Luciana surprised and impressed me today at the rock wall climbing activity. She jumped right into it, with no fear, as I expected. She started off on the small wall (25 feet), and much to my surprise, scrambled up to the top several times. She enjoyed the 'rappelling' back down. We took a small break for lunch and then moved to the big walls (50 feet). Again, she was ready to go and got in on the first climbing set. Holy crap!! The girl made it up the 50 foot climb without even stopping at the rest point. She then decided to try the camel back climb--still 50 feet, but this time at a 45 degree angle OUTWARD, not inward. It was a run designed for teens/adults, so the holds were quite far apart. She was determined to do it anyway. She made it over the first camel hump, but when she got to the second, the holds were farther apart than was physically possible for her to stretch. She still wasn't willing to give up and spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out a way to make it work. She finally conceded defeat on that run, and moved back to the straight wall climbs. It was cloudy all day, but the rain held off until it was time to leave at around 2:45. She's going to sleep well tonight, and I hope she's not sore tomorrow.

After Mark got home from work, we decided to grab some dinner out and then hit the dreaded grocery store. Luciana was hellbent on going to Fazoli's and only Fazoli's. No amount of begging or bargaining was going to sell her on another place, so Fazoli's it was. They changed their menu (for the worse) and raised their prices. Then off to Woodmans, where we spent way too much money on food. Dejanique was with Jessica and Levi, and as usual, didn't want to join us. Petey decided to "help" me unpack groceries by ripping open the package containing my frozen pizza crusts. It's always something with him. As I type, Dejanique is chowing down on Wheat Thins chips and Jasper is mauling the bag and begging like a dog. Dej had a message on the machine from JC Penney's, wanting to set up an interview. She will call back in the morning. I will make sure she is up nice and early to take care of that :) Oh, well, super! Petey just popped up for a cuddle, and I see he has lost another collar.

I finished up my Herbivore magazine this afternoon, while at the rock climbing, and there were some wonderful articles in there--a lot of food for thought. The issue's topic was activism. I need to ponder some things for a day or so but will probably write about some thoughts on this soon.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama...

was as wonderful as I expected. Oh, and no, I didn't take the picture above--no cameras allowed today. He discussed "Songs of Spiritual Experience - Condensed Points of the Stages of the Path". I very much enjoyed his insights. Luciana got bored and was antsy, and Mark had a case of the nods. I tried very hard to ignore those distractions and get as much as I could from his talk. He has such a sweet spirit and a good sense of humor. He frequently breaks into laughter during his talks, and his wonderful personality (sense of humor and humility) shows through. His geniune spirituality and compassion are very obvious. I see such a contrast between him and the spiritual leaders of the christian community, who usually seem to come across as smarmy, disingenuous, judgmental, pious, or some combination thereof. When the talk ended, they played a tape/cd (?) of the Buddhist monks' chanting. I absolutely love that! I find it very centering. I wish we had been able to stay and listen to more, but we were running late and needed to get back for my dad's birthday dinner. I also enjoyed seeing the Tibetan women wearing their beautiful dresses--gorgeous colors and patterns.

We were given books that contained the texts of his talks (I only attended one of five or six possible talks). I read some of it today and really look forward to reading the rest. I was very touched and inspired by his favorite verse, written by Shantideva in the eighth century:

For as long as space endures

And for as long as living beings remain,

Until then may I too abide

To dispel the misery of the world.

Happy 59th birthday dad! He didn't want to go out or do anything extraordinary tonight, so we had dinner with them at my parents' house. Desert was a hot fudge cake with soy ice cream. We all really enjoyed that! Brandon joined us and met my parents for the first time.

Tomorrow morning, after I finish my class and grading, I am taking Luciana to a rock climbing event with the homeschooling group. She's excited about climbing. It's a HUGE wall! I am absolutely dreading it (the event, not the wall). The group is comprised of 90% or so rabid christian women.--the type who homeschool their children, so they are not exposed to people like me. They don't talk to me and look at me as if I am going to eat their children. If Luciana has as much fun as I think/hope she will, though, I guess it will be worth my pain and suffering. I MUST remember my camera! I also have to miss my normal Friday lunch at El Jardin with Denny and Orinda. I NEVER miss that lunch!

LOST day!

Yep - another Wednesday--my favorite. LOST is taping right now, and we will watch it at 10, when it's done. Mark is picking Dejanique up from Brandon's, and Luciana should be asleep but isn't. She's snuggling next to me in bed, as I type away. We just returned from the Rock Prairie Band concert at UW Rock County. We really needed to go to the grocery store, as we have no more fresh produce in the house, but the concert sounded much more enjoyable. We had a nice time. There was a young girl (college student) who had her conducting debut tonight, and she was so cute to watch. I also got to see a former student, Scott, playing baritone saxophone.

Luciana drew some lovely pictures during the concert. She managed to get all of our critters on one small 5x7 page. I was pretty impressed that she got the two dogs, five cats, rabbit, guinea pig, and 7 birds on there! Too cute!

Dejanique had her job interview tonight. She looked beautiful. She felt like it went well, and she wasn't nervous at all. She said they would let her know by Monday... I called her between school and her interview, on my way home from work, to go over some common interview questions with her. Mark had already covered some with her. I guess great minds think alike :)

Petey just jumped in my lap and stopped me--he had one of his cuddle need moments. That's also how most of my mornings start. Somewhere between 4 and 5, he gets this overwhelming need to have a cuddle, so he jumps up on the bed (loudly) and flops himself over on my face. He proceeds to purr loudly, while I cuddle and snuggle him. I really hate to be woken up earlier than I have to be, because I rarely can get back to sleep. It's impossible to ignore or push away a cute little guy who needs his cuddles so badly! Anyway, if he doesn't wake me, Mark's alarm going off every nine minutes for the hour between 4 and 5 will. I guess Petey's the better option of the two. Oliver, Baxter and Jasper are here in bed, taking their 9-10:30 snooze, so they have enough energy to tear around, wrestle, and destroy the house later tonight (with Petey of course). Ivan is in the stairwell window, patrolling the driveway. He likes that spot, as he can see me, outside, and into the neighbors windows. It's the perfect spot for my control-freak guard cat.

Hectic day, but very exciting!!

Today was beautiful and summer-ish, but it's my long day at work, and I had lots to do, so I didn't get to enjoy it. This weekend should be nice again, and I will definitely be gardening, so I will get to enjoy the weather then. We had a delicious dinner at my mom's tonight. She tried a new recipe, which is always stressful--especially with my picky girls, but it turned out well. Luciana was pretty pokey, but she did eat it all. Right after dinner, I had to take Dejanique to the mall to get an outfit for the interview tomorrow. She picked out a cute outfit, but sadly, as it's not jeans, she will probably wear it ONLY for the interview tomorrow. Shopping with her is so not fun. She needs a small/medium on the majority of her body, but a large/extra large for her chest. She refuses to wear anything that is a size Large, because it just hangs loosely and fits poorly on the rest of her body, so we have a horrible time finding shirts for her. It usually results in one or both of us being pissed off, because she can't get what she wants, and I don't like the way her tops fit! UGH!! Anyway, by the time we finished that traumatic experience, I forgot to get gas for my car and stop at the pharmacy, both of which needed to be done tonight. I don't have enough gas to get to work in the morning. I returned home to find Mark and Luciana playing, of course, D&D. By the time I got dishes done, I only had a few minutes left to hang out with M & L, before it was time for our bedtime reading.

The best and most exciting part of the whole day is that I was able to get tickets to see the Dalai Lama in Madison this Thursday. Mark, Luciana, and I will be going. The last time I saw him was probably 9 or so years ago, and it was a WONDERFUL experience. I would definitely place it up there in my list of best experiences. I am so excited to be able to see him again! I am a little bit concerned with Luciana going, because it's a two hour talk by him. I'm hoping she can follow it and get something from it, but since I'm a realist, I will take her drawing stuff. If she doesn't find him as entrancing as I do, she can amuse herself for hours drawing. It's important that she goes, because this is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. I have never had any desire to see or get autographs from famous people. I don't even comprehend why someone would want to do that! I am in awe of His Holiness, though, and really feel honored to be in his presence. I still have no desire for an autograph, though :) Dejanique is not going, and I am pretty unhappy about that.