Saturday, October 31, 2009

Friday, October 30, 2009

Crazy Kids

I know I am a very conservative person, but somehow that does not just "rub off" on your children. In fact you are very lucky if you can teach that one to children these days.

Last night my two daughters 15 and 25 went to the work party, at the bar. Things got a little crazy and they had a wild time, to say the least. The biggest problem is the very beautiful 15 yr. old, and the fact that she is a gringa makes her even more desirable. My older daughter was wishing she had brought a bat to the party. In fact maybe that is what byob meant?

At any rate also got a call from the prodigal son, the inmate in coconino county. He always brightens my day and makes me laugh. This call was no exception. Seems he decided it was finally time to cut off the Sampson locks. The problem of course is they do not allow scissors in jail, duh and so he just hauled out the little handy dandy nail clippers. Of course what else would you use in that situation? The problem came when they broke by the time he got to the back. Mullet boy is his name now.

I still have not heard from the crazy 21 yr. old in the middle of the Hondurus mess with his brother-in-law, no telling about him. They barely made it out of the country without being arrested. Good thing they were headed out of the country when they got pulled off the bus and threatened. Sometimes the immigration police just slay me here. Not the brightest bulbs in the bunch to say the least.

And there is still Halloween tomorrow! No telling what that will bring.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Sanctity for Life

Fifteen years ago I was working for Birthrite. It was a crisis pg. center and I really enjoyed my time working as a volunteer there. While working there I had to do training to be able to council the women and girls that came into the clinic for free pg. tests. I learned a lot in that training that is becoming more apparent to me lately.

The main thing we learned was about something called the "slippery slope". This was in reference to sanctity for life. There was a chart that showed how the slope quickly declined with the introduction of the birth control pill. That quickly sloped into abortion, now we have the morning after pill, and an attitude about whole populations that is alarming.

Today in Yahoo news there was an article about at risk prisoners getting h1n1 shots. People were up at arms that "this population" should receive any shots at all. Now don't get me wrong I have already told my son not to take the shot, so have no interest at all in my "inmate" receiving one. My shock here is that people could be so callous as to voice their belief that these at risk individuals should be denied any medical attention, just because they are in jail.

That is not the only group that seems to be singled out by the population at large. There are of course the "illegal aliens, fetuses, inmates, and hippies (I just threw that last one in there :) Anyway it is scary to see that people will single these whole groups of people out to be denied health benefits, help, or even life. Do you see that people are very hardened in this? It is very Nazi Germany to me and very alarming. We need to wake up and realize that a person is a person no matter what!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Oil Fire

Did you know that oil fires make a huge mess? Did you know that the smoking, catching fire point of olive oil is very low? Did you know that you should never, never leave a 21 yr. old alone in your house while you are gone? Actually you should not even leave a 21 yr. old with his 29 yr old brother-in-law in your house while you are gone? Did you know that it takes about 6 hours to clean up the mess if you ignore the above advice?

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Gotcha Day



Today is just one of the happiest days of our lives that we have celebrated every year for the past five years. It is the day we got blessed with Jin Li Neu joining our family and our hearts.



I could write pages and pages about the changes she has brought into our family, just suffice it to say they have all been good. She has softened very hardened teenage boy hearts, as well as gluing our family together forever.



To her we say we love you and will always be happy for this day that we were able to take you home with us!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Do You Have Skeletons In Your Closet?



It is time to get the skeletons out of the closet, dust them off and prepare for classes. Here Benjamin is making friends with Fred, our main man for anatomy classes.
When we get out Fred and the clay baby comes out to play with us. She loves clay and any other art medium.

We do most of the anatomy and physiology online now so Fred does not get out as often as he used to. But we will continue to use him, because doggonit he cost a lot, all one half of him!

Friday, October 23, 2009

More on Vaccines by my friend!

My friend Sally over at abroadincostarica wrote this and I loved it!

Vaccination Screed

"Those who are unaware are unaware of being unaware". --Merrill Jenkins, economist and author

V smileDebating vaccination on social sites takes so much time. Mostly because I have to repeat my reasoning every time the topic comes up, remember where I saw the documentation behind the apparently insane idea that vaccination is not all it's cracked up to be. No more: this is my Vaccination Screed. (Good word, huh?) If anyone wants to debate vaccines, I'd love to. They will need to read this first and I promise to read whatever they throw at me. You know, like studies proving vaccines are safe (there aren't any) and effective (none of those either). Then we can debate from a level playing field.

If you don't have kids, you've had all your vaccinations and are perfectly healthy (like me), this post may not interest you. If you have kids and aren't 100% on the vaccination thing, why not read up before you decide? You'll at least get a good start here.

If you've had all your vaccinations and are NOT healthy, there's a chance your illness is related to injected junk. Today's illness might be, if not cured, then much-relieved by removing the junk via chelation and bio-medical intervention.

Alice down the rabbit hole If you follow me down this rabbit hole, you'll meet people who've cured themselves and their children of incurable disease. The funny thing is, you are not likely to hear of these methods from your doctor. In fact, your doctor will laugh at you if you mention them. As will your friends. Your enemies will have a field day. Even though none of them have done any research.

But, then, why would they? What they know about vaccination was told to them by Doctors, the indisputable Gods of the 20th century, who learned about it from a drug salesperson or journal article (possibly written by a Big Pharma ghostwriter), all verified by public indoctrination schooling and the MSM. And everyone - doctors, teachers, MSM employees, you and me - assumes there's hard science behind vaccinations. Don't worry, we'll be gettin' to that.

Oh, and don't tell me the "vaccine question has been answered." Maybe it was at one time. Back when the world was flat.

The problem is not vaccination. From what I know, the science behind vaccination is sound. It mimics the way you get natural immunity. Take smallpox. Put some smallpox in your body, your body attacks it, builds up antibodies, bingo: immunity. It's in the perversion of the science where one finds the root of vaccine evil:

#1. It's one thing to vaccinate against a true deadly virus, like smallpox, another to vaccinate against every little germ that comes along, like swine flu. Here's the thing: natural immunity lasts forever. Vaccine induced lasts but a few years. Many childhood diseases are more severe for adults. If one suffers the disease in childhood, one has little chance of dying from it yet gets lifelong immunity. But get vaccinated and, when immunity runs out and you get the disease, you are more likely to suffer devastating consequences, like death. Risk/benefit.

#2. Vaccines are chock-full of nasty additives: neomycin, formaldehyde, thimerisol, aluminum, to name a few. And cultivated in unappealing places: tissue from diseased monkey brains, aborted fetal tissue, rotten eggs. You are injecting this crap into your bloodstream. Um, the smallpox vaccine didn't have any of this.

#3. We vaccinate against everything, regardless of risk/benefit. Like Rubella. Rubella causes a mild rash and fever for two days. Rubella only poses a danger to a pregnant woman who may pass it to her fetus. So... why do we give infants two doses of Rubella vaccination? They are out of the danger zone. We fill infants with crap to protect pregnant women? Even though no one around them is pregnant anymore?

And why do we give two to four doses of the Hep B vaccine to infants when Hep B is only transmitted by blood? Particularly when this vaccination is no longer effective after eight years. Do you reckon your infant will be a drug abuser or prostitute? Is our blood supply so tainted we can't trust it against Hep B?

An aside: the CDC reports 99,000 U.S. deaths per year from nosocomial infections: infections which are a result of treatment in a hospital, most of which are preventable. The truth is mainstream medicine kills more people than almost anything else, yet we can't wait to bow and scrape at its feet if a new germ appears? Insanity.

#4. Is all this vaccination shutting down our bodies' natural ability to build immunity, leaving us vulnerable? MRSA came about because little germs had to get tough to fight disinfectant in hospitals. We could be setting ourselves up for a real pandemic. Maybe one day we'll all die from the common cold. Or acne.

“Immunisation programs against the flu, measles, mumps, polio, etc., actually may be seeding humans with RNA to form pro-viruses…which under proper conditions become activated and cause a variety of diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus erythematoses, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer. Spare me this ‘medical miracle’.” --Dr. Robert Simpson, Rutgers University, 1987

#5. Aside from undermining our natural ability to build immunity, what is the long term effect of shooting all this poison into our bodies? Oh, no studies on that?

I wasn't born wary of vaccination, the FDA, the CDC, Big Pharma, my government and doctors. But trust must be earned and I can't think of a single thing any of those entities have done to earn my trust. Au contraire. The more I know, the less I trust.

If I could quickly share with you everything I've learned since August 2008, I'd do it. But, as a pro-vaccine friend said to me recently when I quoted a tiny bit of data on polio, "You can't just pick 2 or 3 years out of a hat and call it a trend. You need to look at all the data. That is science, not opinion." Nor can you squeeze over a year of constant study and information overload into a single post. Although I've done my best.

"The CDC would be the last place in the world to go for information regarding health. The CDC is a government bureacracy funded by theft (taxation that has reached confiscatory levels) and run by white collar criminals who regularly misinform and misdirect the public while creating pandemonium in the marketplace (unnecessary destruction of livestock, recalls etc) and conspiring to incite public panic on an almost daily basis, in violation of the Constitution of the United States."--Dr Duffy, Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine

Perhaps you think Dr. D is a little hard on the CDC. Finish this post, follow the links, watch the videos. Then we'll talk.

And science? Forget science, there is no science. I almost LOLed at another friend's link to the CDC because "that's where all the science is." Not LOLed at my friend, but at how foolishly we presume the CDC makes recommendations based on science. There is no vaccine science, much less on the CDC website. None. Hard to believe, I know. Go look, like I and thousands of parents have. You won't find any. In fact, the vaccine truther's current rallying cry is "Show us the science." Should be easy, right?

"My suspicion, which is shared by others in my profession, is that the nearly 10,000 SIDS deaths that occur in the United States each year are related to one or more of the vaccines that are routinely given children. The pertussis vaccine is the most likely villain, but it could also be one or more of the others." --Dr. Mendelsohn, M.D.

Take SIDS, for instance. On vaccines and SIDS, Wikipedia says:

"Vaccination does not increase the risk of SIDS. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: From 2 to 4 months old, babies begin their primary course of vaccinations. This is also the peak age for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The timing of these two events has led some people to believe they might be related. However, studies have concluded that vaccines are not a risk factor for SIDS.[108]"

Hey, studies, whaddya know! But, oops, the CDC's 108-link goes to a Page Not Found. I found the CDC's main SIDS page. At the bottom is a link for SIDS and Vaccinations. I clicked: Page Not Found. That CDC is such a tease. Could you just post the studies and end the debate??? Or could it really be coincidence that SIDS occurs at the same time as primary vaccinations? So far, "coincidence theory" is what vaccine pushers rely on for proof: "Millions would have died without this vaccine."

Puzzle But back to me. I have 100s of sites bookmarked: information, documents, yahoo groups, personal stories, videos, podcasts, you name it. The info is dripping out my ears, puzzle pieces painting an unholy alliance. Is today's vaccination policy rooted in profit or public health? The profit is ginormous, the corruption well-documented. There is no proof these vaccines are safe or necessary, and a mountain of evidence to the contrary. Call me crazy (many do), but I'm going with the evidence.

Both of my sons were born perfectly healthy. One had a a seizure after the first Hep B vaccine. He is fine today. The other mysteriously developed asthma at three. No doctor has a clue why. They know what drugs to prescribe to mask the symptoms. They know how to warn me about the dangers of not taking the drugs. But they don't know why it happened, or how to control it, other than with drugs.

Funny, with a little research on the internet, we learned from other moms how to control asthma with diet and very little drug intervention. We are hoping to cure it with chelation. It sure won't hurt him. How come no doctor ever took us down this path?
We didn't give any more vaccines after Mo's seizure. Not that I knew what it was really. I just never liked the vaccines, the seizure was scary and I was too disorganized to pay attention to a vaccine schedule. I'm sure I could have been frightened into giving them all, particularly if the boys had gone to public school. Thank goodness Hal insisted on home schooling.

"Anything that implies that immunisations are not the greatest medical advance in the history of public health is ignored or ridiculed. Can you imagine the economic and political import of discovering that immunisations are killing thousands of babies?" --Dr. Douglass M.D.

The government who helps force these vaccinations upon us refuses to do any meaningful study. Why is that? I say follow the money. If they did a study and found out vaccines cause more harm than good, the backlash would be ginormouser. Picture Congress being visited by over 3,000,000 enraged mothers (of vaccine damaged kids), then sued, collectively and individually. Yummy.

Here's a taste of where I've been lately. There are 100s more links in my bookmarks folder:

FLU:

* Desiree Jennings got a flu shot
* Swine Flu: Cases Overestimated?
* There is ton of info on swine flu right now. You will easily find that the regular flu vaccine has been debunked everywhere: it has only been shown effective in people over 65 and even that is shaky.
* Am. Lung Assoc. flu & pneumonia surprising facts.
*
o Page 4: "For the second year in a row, pneumonia and influenza together remained the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2005. Pneumonia consistently accounts for the overwhelming majority of these deaths. In 2005, 61,189 people died from pneumonia and 1,812 people died from influenza."
o Page 4 bottom: "For the 65 and over population, pneumonia and influenza are the sixth leading cause of death. Close to 90% of deaths due to these diseases occur in this age group. Very few deaths are attributed to influenza in the population under age 55. As seen in the 2005 mortality statistics, the highest death rate for influenza is in those over age 85."
o Page 9: See actual number of deaths from flu alone.
o From the American Lung Association
o CDC on flu
* Why would anyone bother to get a flu shot? Why has the CDC not challenged the "flu kills 36,000 people a year in the U.S." lie? Flu kills almost no one. Pneumonia kills old people. What a scam. All to sell drugs... unless you can think of another reason?

SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME:

* Scandals & wrongfully convicted
* Sean's case
* On one of the videos listed below (think it's the first one), you'll hear the story of a family that proved their "shaken baby syndrome" was caused by vaccination.

HEP B:

* Ian dies after Hep B vaccine, good info. Brace yourself for the photos. If I'd seen this before, no way would I have had my boys vaccinated. Fair warning.

GARDASIL: Barabara Loe Fisher always has the facts.

More GARDASIL:

* Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
* Even CBS has questions
* Teen girl dies of tumor, not vaccine... So the coroner is saying she would have died that morning regardless of whether or not she received the vaccine. Within 2 hrs of her jab she was dead, but the vaccine is not implicated at all. This is such a fantastic lie, I'm amazed anyone believes it.
* If you go to the CDC website and read about Gardasil, you'll see the word "may" everywhere: as in "may" cause cervical cancer, "may" prevent cervical cancer, blah blah blah. They don't know. Or, they are lying.

Here's a little info on Merck, who brings us Gardasil. The case against Merck is so damning, it is hard to believe the CEOs are not in jail.

* Largest health care fraud settlement in DOJ history
* Dumped vaccine and chemical waste in public water supply
* Medicaid "mistakes"
* Fosamax
* Hiding negative test results for Vytorin
* Skimped on taxes (although the IRS goes after big pockets routinely)
* Vioxx 27,000 dead and lawsuits galore
* Recalls 2.1 million doses of childhood vaccine
* Drew up a list of doctors to be neutralized for criticizing its drugs

Why would anyone take a drug made by Merck?

FDA & Big Pharma:

* Mercola on FDA
* Dr. Weil is threatened by the FDA, FTC over immune-boosting supplements. But Merck is allowed to stay in business.
* Mercola on FDA & Big Pharma's cozy relationship
* Who's on the FDA's Advisory Committees?

SV40: cancer-causing DNA virus that was - whoops - put into a polio vaccine

POLIO: Already on the way out before vaccine developed: 1952 saw 58,000 cases; 1953 less than 35,000; first vaccine introduced 1955. Google it, it's everywhere.

First places I go for vaccine information:

* Barbara Loe Fisher's NVIC.org
* Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey, Stan Kurtz at GenerationRescue.com
* Mercola.com
* Whale.to (a clearinghouse of info so includes the "out there" stuff)
* Yahoo groups: AustimMercury, frequent-dose-chelation, GFCFKids, adult-metal-chelation, mb12valtrex

Two moms who cured autism with mercury chelation (using Andy Cutler's protocol) and bio-medical intervention:

* Moria
* Dana

GREAT DOCUMENTARIES:

* Vaccinations - the Hidden Truth
* Are Vaccines Safe?
* Vaccine Nation
* Prescription for Disaster
* Making a Killing: on the psychotropic drugs we give America's children... from age 2

MISC SITES:

* Excellent faqs re. diseases we vaccinate against on this home school mom's page.
* Tattling on the vaccine industry
* Vaccine liberation
* Shirley's Wellness Cafe

I'll add to this page as I find new information so it's all in one place. If anyone can prove vaccines are harmless and good for us, sign me up. I am ready to be wrong. Then we can move on to discovering why our children are sicker every year in every way, in lockstep with increasing Big Pharma intervention. Coincidence?

Why do I care? My vaccination decisions have been made. The thing is, I've been made a fool of on the vaccine front to line someone else's pocketbook. That makes me angry. I also don't like people thinking I'm stupid. (So... I risk looking stupid to prove I'm not stupid. Really: this is a smart thing.) Injustice makes me nuts. I don't want anymore kids damaged or killed by vaccines. And I need people in my camp in order to force the government to take a hard look at the vaccines they are mandating. Before they really mandate them and take away my choice in the matter.

I really hate being manipulated. Do not try to scare me into being vaccinated against every germ that comes down the pike. Besides, it's smarter to butch up for a little lifelong immunity. As long as it's still my choice, that's the path I'm taking.

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent busybodies. The robber barons' cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." --C.S. Lewis

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Never Ends

Since returning from Nicaragua for our 90 day leave, we have not stopped. We have a class to prepare for, as well as just generally putting the house back together. You know you leave a 21 yr. old alone with a little dog, and you never know what you will come home to. Actually he, the 21 yr. old, was trying to clean up. We just arrived before he expected us to and he was in the "pile" phase of cleaning. So we spent the day finishing that up.

Of course we are also in the middle of preparing for class in ten days, so that means more mess of course. Our little classroom needs to be walled in and readied for our students. That is the fun part of course.

We spend six weeks teaching and the rest of the time prepping. It is fun though and we are always excited to welcome and show new students around Costa Rica, as well as massage.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Vaccination, the choice?

In the good ole' days vaccinating your children was your choice. You were expected of course to vaccinate, but if you chose not to you could sign a waiver of responsibility and you child would be good to go.

Not anymore. Now some wonderful Parm guru has been selling people on "herd" theory. This theory is that if enough kids are not vaccinated the rest of society is at risk. It actually makes no sense if you really study vaccinations and how they supposedly work, but none the less, it is being perpetuated.

Now if you do not vaccinate you are the bad guy, and endangering all of society, heck all the world for that matter. Interesting to say the least and the only way to make people mad enough to force you to get your kids vaccinate. Convince them you are endangering their children and they will do what ever it takes to protect their own, just like we are doing.

I found the following article about this very issue very good and enlightening.


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October 20, 2009
Vaccination Resisters: An Epidemic of Fear and Irrationality
Posted by Karen De Coster on October 20, 2009 06:46 PM

Here’s an article in Wired — a very long article — by an Amy Wallace, titled “Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endanger Us All.” Her theme is just the same old rehash: people who educate themselves on the vaccination issue and balance the perceived benefits with the potential risks, and then come to the conclusion that their children are better off without the juice, are denying the “experts” the control they deserve. They are irrational lunatics feeding off of Google searches, misinforming themselves and rejecting “hard-won knowledge” because clinging to the “pseudo-science” of resisting mandatory vaccinations is their comfort tool to fill the empty voids in their empty lives. Miss Wallace just cannot get over the fact that anyone should actually see the powerful forces at work within the Medical-Congressional-Pharmaceutical complex, and deny them power over their lives and the lives of their children. The vaccination business is all legit — 100% of it — and if you think otherwise, you are a loon and an outcast. Says Watson:

Ah, risk. It is the idea that fuels the anti-vaccine movement — that parents should be allowed to opt out, because it is their right to evaluate risk for their own children. It is also the idea that underlies the CDC’s vaccination schedule — that the risk to public health is too great to allow individuals, one by one, to make decisions that will impact their communities. (The concept of herd immunity is key here: It holds that, in diseases passed from person to person, it is more difficult to maintain a chain of infection when large numbers of a population are immune.)

Wallace’s hero is Paul Offit, a famed vaccination proponent and ‘public intellectual expert’ thought by many to be in the pocket of Big Pharma. He is a guy who is hated by the vaccination deniers, and he is a big believer in the state forcing its mandates on individuals. He says:

“We have seat belt rules,” he says. “Seat belts save lives. There was never a question about that. The data was absolutely clear. But people didn’t use them until they were required to use them.” Furthermore, the decision not to buckle up endangers only you. “Unless you fly through the window and hit somebody else,” he adds. “I believe in mandates. I do.”

This story is like every one I read in that it compares the number of people that die directly from the vaccination to those who actually die from a disease that supposedly would have been prevented by the vaccine. Of course, this makes the vaccination look like a much better risk. But never is there any mention of those who don’t die, but instead suffer from all the various diseases and disorders that destroy their quality of life – whether it’s autism or the numerous and varied (and unexplained) neurological and autoimmune disorders that permeate modern life. Thanks to Matt T. for the article tip.

As a related aside, visit Desiree Jennings, a pretty young girl and bride with her whole, wonderful life ahead of her — before she got a toxic injection referred to as a flu shot.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Money, Easy come Easy go!

Have you ever noticed how much money is like weight? Only the opposite. It is so much easier to spend money than it is to make it. It is so much easier to gain weight than it is to lose it. That about sums up my day!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Monte de la Cruz

My son commented this morning that he was wanting to head to the mountains. Since he had not been to Monte yet I suggested we take the bus up and hang out there for the day. We caught the bus and for the first time ever had a great time there. Usually it is so cold up there you have to wear a sweater. Today was beautiful. The sun was shining the whole time we were there and we took a good hike up to the cruz.

There is a beautiful view from there looking over the whole valley. We could see for miles and it helped me out a lot. I needed to get out of my little neighborhood and remember there is a whole big world out there and open my mind and eyes a little bit.

That is the beauty of hiking around in the beautiful nature created for us. We realize how beautiful the world is and can get out and enjoy it because we are free and very blessed. It was a great way to spend the day and I am sure I let him talk me into it!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Health Food



In bygone years I have been a health foodie as well as a junk foodie! For the first 13 years of our married life I did not eat any meat for five and then only white meat for the next seven. We also did not eat sugar. No refined sugar, zip, nada nothing. After I had my sixth baby something went haywire and I started eating everything in sight. I mean everything in sight.

The problem with this is of course I started getting fat. So I started working out like a crazy person. I mean I worked out about three hours a day. I was doing triathlons and I almost broke even. I still could not get my weight where I wanted it. Of course the fact that I was stuck in eating for two mode did not help. My excuse is I ate for two for fifteen years due to nursing and being pg. so I just kept it up, not good.

After all these years I have figured out the formula for staying at my ideal weight and I don't even have to work out three hours a day. I do work out one hour a day. I also practice portion control! When I first began trying this out I would take my regular helping and then put half of it back. That worked out well and now I have a good idea of what a portion actually is.

When I became a certified personal trainer it also helped because we had to see what a portion was. Boy oh boy was I way off. In fact I was not eating for two, I was actually eating for three or four people.

I have come full circle and am back to being a health foodie. That mostly because junk food is too expensive in Costa Rica, and just because I feel better when I eat healthy. Maybe by the time I am fifty I will realize my goal of being comfortable enough to work out in my jog bra and running shorts, not quite there yet.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Biggest Loser Night

Every Tuesday night is reserved for the "Biggest Loser". I swore after last season that I would not get sucked into the drama again, but alas here I am following again. The reason I swore off of it last time was because the lady who won so obviously cheated I could not stand it. It is kind of like bike racing, you know they are all doping, and the winner is the one who can dope without getting caught.

Of course with the Biggest Loser I don't think they even have rules against drugging. If you have spent as much time studying physical fitness as I have you would know that they are using something to lose that much weight that fast. It is not healthy and I am sure most of them gain a certain percent back. I do notice we have not seen Helen on any follow up commercials or anything.

Now I am thinking to myself that whoever I like the least will probably win. Which means the girl Tracy will probably win. They have set her up to be the girl everyone hates, so irgo that means she will probably win. What a shame.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Too Much!



Our party began Wed. of last week and finally wrapped up last night. It all began with taking cupcakes to babies school for her birthday celebration. The next day was the big shopping day. Friday night was the time to prep for the big meal on Sat. morning and do all the grocery shopping. Sat. morning was the big cooking day and cake and presents day. That night we went to a cultural activity at the church and they surprised baby with yet another cake! That night was the big sleep over with niece and finally Sun. evening her daddy came and got her and we all crashed out pretty darn early last night.

If this was just #6 I can just imagine #16! When we had all the other six kids living at home they just knew no birthday was going to be that all out. I mean they were lucky if we got the cake and candles and even some presents thrown in. We have always had a fifty dollar limit on birthdays and that really does not buy much these days. We used to have a hundred dollar limit on Christmas but have lowered it to fifty!

I am just glad to have a couple of weeks off before we celebrate "Gotcha Day".

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Happy Birthday Baby



Happy Sixth Birthday to my baby! I told her when she is 18 I will stop calling her baby. She plans to get me up early so we can start her brunch and party. I also have to make her cake and get everything ready as she told me. It is great to have her to get me organized and tell me what to do to take care of things! I hope she has a great day and loves her much agonized over gifts :)

Friday, October 9, 2009

"A person's a person no matter how small."

I have been having an ongoing discussion on FB with a friend of mine. He was a good friend to me when I was the misplaced Californian living in the foreign state of Missouri. It was great to meet back up with him on FB, and we got into a discussion about "illegals".

In my life I have always been taught that as Dr. Seuss said "a person's a person no matter how small". How do people not get that? If someone does something illegal does that demote them to sub-human status? If a person is poor and desperate does that demote them to sub-human status? Is it ever right for us to treat anyone as less than we are, or than we feel?

All these were questions I wanted to ask him, but he just did not seem to get it. He felt that the illegals were somehow taking something from him, and trying to get something that is rightfully his. How in this world can we ever think we are more "entitled" to anything than the next guy?

Running through my mind the the story from Le Miserables. The guy was a "ex-con" for goodness sake, he stole candle holders from the church, a pretty wicked guy ha? But look at all the good he did in his life. That plus the fact he was starving when he stole the bread for a child.

What it really boils down to is can we really judge anyone? No we are told that over and over again in scriptures. We can just be kind and try to love everyone and share whatever we have been blessed to receive.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Birthday Shopping

If you have not picked up on it by now, I hate shopping! I try to do all my shopping online, but have found I do not keep as careful track of funds as I should when I shop online. So in the hopes of saving a few bucks I decided to shop local for babies birthday.

We spent the day out shopping in fact and I am exhausted. What is it about shopping that makes me feel more tired than doing a marathon? I cannot for the life of me figure out what anyone could love about shopping.

Maybe it is because I am always on a budget and trying to shop within the budget is what is exhausting. Since I have never shopped without a budget I have nothing to compare budget shopping to.

Anyway since she can't read, and probably would not read my blog even if she could read, I can tell you what I got her. I got her art supplies. She loves to color, cut,glue, and just all around make a mess. I also got her makeup, the standard gift we get her every occasion. I was also excited to get her her first three reading books. She knows enough sounds and short sight words to begin reading, so we will take off now.

It just seemed like for a fifty dollar budget I could have gotten more for her. I just picture the big parties with all the balloons, candies, oh crud I just remembered, I forgot the pinata! Oh well back to the store and over the budget I go.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

FELIZ CUMPLEANOS

Today was a fun day for baby. We spent yesterday afternoon making cupcakes for her to take to school and share with her classmates for her birthday. Saturday is her birthday and today was her last day of school before a few day break off school. All the kids loved her cupcakes and she was tickled pink to be the boss for the hour.

We all sang "Happy Birthday" in Spanish and then in English. Several of the kids in her class knew how to sing it in English. They are all so cute when I go to the school, they all want to say "hello" and "thank you". It is fun to work with them.

I made the comment to the teenager with me that it is hard to believe that in 10 years they are all going to be a bunch of bratty teenagers! They are so cute right now. We stuck around for a few minutes and watched baby playing on the playground with the other kids. Interesting thing, she plays with the boys! I guess it is having four older brothers.

Teenager got a job today. She is going to work at the internet store at the mall a few days a week. She said there is plenty of time just sitting around so she could get her school work done. We will see how long that lasts!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

RAINY DAY MASSAGE

I love giving massages, especially in the rain. My client today scheduled his massage in the afternoon and it was so nice and tranquillo! The rain was falling gently and he was in lots of pain, but it was good pain. Pain in the rain hey that is a new niche!

Thank goodness for the rain as well as the clients I have here. They are both blessings and keep us from starving!

When I sold my massage business in the U.S. I really did not think I would be doing massage here in Costa Rica. I really just thought I would teach and be retired. The problem, like other retirees I meet is that I miss working on people.

I miss the fullfillment that comes from relieving them of a little bit of pain and suffering. Life is full enough of pain and suffering that we can do nothing about. We should take the things we can change and manipulate them so that they are not on our pain and suffering list anymore! Massage does that for sure, takes control of your body, brings you awareness right back into the body and helps you take control of your body. Awareness is the first step in feeling good and massage helps you get in touch with the old body we spend so much time trying to check out of.

So what are you waiting for go out and get a massage!

Monday, October 5, 2009

RAIN FINALLY

We finally got some rain today! That was after spending the day with zero water pressure. We did receive a note from ICE the corporation that owns all phone, water, electric and who knows what else for the whole country of Costa Rica. They told us that we are 35% low on water for this time of year and we would start rationing soon!

When we moved to Costa Rica from Arizona a big reason was to be near water. Now we are running low on water. All we can hope for is that this will be the wettest October in history. Although we just saw on the news this rain is actually just a front blowing through and not actual rainy season rains. What that means is it will not last as long or be as hard as seasonal rains.

On my morning run this morning it was sooo hot I felt like I was running my marathon again. I mean to say it was freakin hot. I almost stopped because I realized that I did not have to do this. I am not training for anything, I was not racing, in other words there was no reason to be out there suffering so.

I have headed back to the gym and had forgotten how much easier spinning and lifting are. But nothing burns the calories like running, or gives you that runners high!

Friday, October 2, 2009

CONFERENCE WEEKEND

I have been busy getting the girls ready for conference this weekend. I was going to make cinnamon rolls but decided on coffee cake. Now I am thinking, is that appropriate to make coffee cake to eat during a Mormon conference?

This weekend is Micah's birthday and we will miss spending it with him. We were able to spend his 18th with him last year. I decided then that visiting through glass, talking on a phone, is pretty much just like talking on the phone and lots cheaper. I do hope he has a good day.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

WATCH TIME


I have mentioned how much I love shopping, online only! I have discovered so many great deals online. Now I have a new problem to shop for. A couple of weeks ago my watch broke. Not my watch, my watch band. As you can see the watch is great, works like a charm and no problema. If I lived in the U.S. that would be no problem, but here is the problem.

In Costa Rica they do not manufacture anything, at least anything useful. They do manufacture coffee and baseballs. Other than that not much. So in order for anyone here to get anything, such as childrens clothing, electronics and vitamins you must have it imported. We use a mail company that mails our items for us. The charge for this convenience? For any electronic, including watches, it is 50% of the value of the item!

If I pay $500.00 for a watch I will pay $250.00 to ship it. That goes to customs i.e. the government. They rake their own people. You can just buy it here, but they jack up the price because they had to pay the customs tax also. That is really taking care of your people ha?

So back to the fun of shopping. When I was searching for watch bands and watches I found lots I liked. Now there are some fancy watches and I unfortunately for my budget found some in the Carribbean line over at Michele watches that were way cool! Actually I was thinking that at my age it is about time for me to finally have a "pretty" watch and maybe I am just a little old for the bulky, black sports watch anyway.(Hint, hint to Hubby who may read this sometime!)