Poor children in Africa need your money (And so do our teachers…) Buy a magazine!
September 25, 2008 | Items of Interest, Shameless Begging, Uncategorized | Comments [2]
~Hey pepz! i just wanted to let you know that we r having another one of those fund raisers at school, except this time, we really need it. I heard from a friend that because of budget cuts, they have to fire the chorus, band, or some other cool teacher. Its horrible! One of my friends is in band, she plays the clarinet. I try to steal her suitcase, the one she holds it in, and i run and say i’m a buisness women and its mine! Lol. Well anyways, i’m going to try and raise some money this time so we can keep the teachers (And because the give out prizes like itunes gift cards, mini blenders, time out of class, ext.) They’re even rewarding an iTouch or iPhone if you sell 125 magazine subscriptions! How cool is that!?! I want to get that iPhone… but I also want to help. With all the budget cuts for our school, things aren’t going so well, and being a new school and first year isn’t helping much.
Sooo…
If your interested in some magazines, then leave a comment. We have lots of different kinds, for kids, for moms and dads, and even for the little pepz! I’m sure they would love Nickelodeon magazine. I’m getting the packet for it tomorrow, so if you want something, you need to tell me as soon as possible. Like now. Seriously, you need to tell me now. If you keep reading, I will deny your claim. OK, that’s it! Now you cant get a magazine! I try to tell you to stop, but you just wont listen. Aw now look, your still reading. I bet you just think I have something important to say (like how I REALLY want that iPhone) but ya know, whatever…
BTW, I’m watching you Maria. You will never pinch those chubby pink cheeks of Tristen’s. Neva!!
JIBJAB: “It’s Time For Some Campaignin’!”
September 24, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [2]
(NOTE: It’s funnier if you remember Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’”)
a couple more tristan pics
September 24, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [7]
I finally got a few pictures of the little man.
Tristan James Copland
September 24, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [3]
Janie Had Her Baby
September 23, 2008 | Kid Brag | No Comments
Born: September 22nd….11:11 P. M. ……6lbs. 8 0z. …….Mother and baby doing fine. Well, Jani had some problems, after 26 hours of labor. Something inside “split”, and they had to take her back to delivery, and sew it up, and she was in excruciating pain. They loaded her up on pain medication, and she still got little sleep.
Carmen and I went up this afternoon, and took her a lot of things that she needed. She had a hard knot in her tummy, and she worried and worried over it.
The baby is adorable. Lots of black hair…and he just looks like most newborns do. Very red, with a red birthmark in the middle of his forehead, that is, between his nose, exactly where Bill’s was. His skin is pretty, otherwise. Jani is nursing him, and he doesn’t seem very interested yet, but maybe Crystal can give her some advice about that. I don’t know what to say. A new mother has to work a lot with newborns, who don’t seem to get the idea at first.
His name is Tristan James Kopman.
BEN STEIN: Everything You Wanted to Know About the Credit Crisis…
September 23, 2008 | Items of Interest | Comments [2]
Very important stuff for every American to understand. Is it doom? How does it affect us as individuals?
FWIW, the prophets have continually told us to “have our houses in order.” I hope we do.
I am going to Louisianna
September 22, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [13]
Home Depot from Atlanta called me this morning and asked me if I would join a “Home Depot Disaster Relief” team to go there and help for a week or two with the aftermath of the Hurricaine. They said I may be going to Houston after that. Anyway, its much better pay then I am getting now and even the bus ride there I am on the clock. Also since all my food is paid for that saves me alot in groceries. I was told I just have to listen to customers when they are uptight and yelling at me and try to be understanding of the pressure they are under. I was chosen because I have a forklift license and have very good customer service skills. Basically we go to stores drowned by customers trying to rebuild and help relieve employees already there. I was also told to help any customers with landscaping and drainage problems caused by the hurricaine wth any of their questions. I am sure their landscaping though is the least of their worries.
Jani went to the hospital
September 22, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [2]
Jani and Carmen just left for the hospital. Wish her good luck in your prayers.
stain removal tips for Lainie
September 19, 2008 | Ad-MOM-ishments | Comments [2]
We also got some paint on the carpet because the kids were helping of course. We used some Goof-off, which is a paint remover, from your hardware store mixed with either Oxi-clean spray or some carpet spot remover. Oops! is another good one for ink and that sort of thing. I haven’t looked for it recently though.
My tools of the trade in the laundry room are Desolve-it or Goo gone spray, which remove sauces and grease, Oxi-clean spray, oxi-clean powder and water to create a soak (it works fabulously), and clorox bleach pen for whites. good luck with stains in the future. for now, a great throw rug on sale. We found a huge one at Aldi for $30. Love, Julie
Beth
September 18, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [5]
Can someone post an update on beth? anyone know the latest news? Is she doing alright?
The slacker blogger shows proof
September 16, 2008 | Photoblog | Comments [12]
I have painted, and decluttered and painted some more with chalkboard paint (which I do not recommend) and this has kept me from getting out reunion pictures and sending out thank you cards to fabulous aunts and birthday cards to our favorite aunt, I mean aunts Lots of love to all, Julie p.s. the kids have taken the back bedroom and we painted it sky blue with a cherry border and bright blue chalkboard squares. It has a low window in the room with some blue curtains and makes it look like a little midget room meant just for them.
Well I tried to show proof of what has kept me so busy, but the system would not upload my picture of the kids room. {NOTE: Fixed by Big Bro. Bill]
(did we just say that?) So from now on I’ll be the perfect organized mom as soon as I stop eating meat and chocolate all the time and when I can quit picturing revenge on my husband who likes to leave dirty dishes and the salt shaker in the living room.
Houston Chronicle Web Page
September 15, 2008 | Items of Interest | Comments [1]
Thought some of you might be interested in news from the local paper here. Those poor folks down south of town are really hurtin’!
Coal Wars Chap 3
September 14, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [6]
~We all headed toward the heart of the forest. The area was getting denser and the trees taller, creating a canopy above us. The shadows lay still beneath our feet as we weaved through the thick brush. We soon came up to a wall of bracken, unlaced with tall grass and grape vines. I turned a sharp left and I heard the others do the same. I resisted the urge to look back at Artek. Instead I tried answering the many questions in my swarming in my head like angry bees. Why is this happening? Who was doing this? Why hadn’t the elders done anything about it yet? What had happened to father…? I swatted that last bee to the back of my mind. I really didn’t want to think about my father at the moment.
We soon came to a small opening in the bracken, I wasted no time in ducking myself into the other side. Light flooded down into the small round field that now surrounded us. Rockhoppers ran past and around us, all doing work of some sort. I waited until the last of my companions came out of the hole before running to a large pile of assorted rocks a large rock with a platform with a smooth platform settled secured atop. I stopped a few feet away. I felt eyes on my back, I was a rare sight around here. At first I was a bit nervous; I hesitated, but Artek was soon at my side. I felt him flick his ear to touch mine, reassuring me. I knew he could feel my anxiousness. I soon remembered why we were her and the fire within me burned once more.
“Father! Its Rosalin, come out!” As soon as my name was spoken, a small head popped out from a opening in the rocks. “Wosy, it’s you!” squealed my little sister. I smiled at her, she could always make me feel a bit happier. It was like she had her own ray of sunshine leaking out of her, she could just fill even the most troubled hearts with a bit of hope. “Awtek is wif you? Yippi!!!” She ran over to Artek and jumped into his arms, who skilfully scooped her out of the air. “How ya doing Bluebell?” “I’m fine. Wat about all youz guys? Why awr you hewr, sistew?” Artek put her down and she walked over to my side. She only came up to about my waist. “I have to talk to father.” I said to her quietly.
A few moments later, there was movement at the base of the rocks. Four Rockhoppers emerged, each with a slightly annoyed look on their faces. In the front was another fuzzy Rockhopper, like myself, and he was coming straight at me. “What is it now Rosalin?” he asked. Seriously, as if he didn’t know. “You know perfectly well what’s wrong now. All the water is drying up! Lakes are no more then trickles of water flowing down a ditch and even Spearow pond has dried up, but you haven’t done anything do deal with it! What is it going to take for you to do something about this? Wait until more Rockhoppers die? Or maybe another mother would be better.” He glared down at me hard after that last sentence. “You know that your mothers… accident was unintended and a force of nature. It was no ones fault. But that is beside the point. We are trying everything we can do to to help the Rockhoppers and any other creature in this area live, its nature if no rain falls. If the sky dosn’t want to give us rain, then we have no rain.”
“But father I’ve already told you that this drought isn’t natural! I can feel it. It has to be the dragons doing, they ruin everything else for us, and all they want is to kill us off so they can destroy our forest and dig for stupid oil. They are greedy, unforgiving killers and all that’s happening is their fault!” I yelled at him. Why wouldn’t he listen? Another bee formed in my head and started swarming with the others. He squinted his eyes at me, his icy blue eyes looking directly at me. “Do not talk back to me young lady. You know that there is absolutely no way that-”
“Actually…” We looked to the elder to my fathers left, Aldo. He was a flower Rockhopper, like my sister, before becoming an elder. Now his flowery ears were a dull gray and his leafy tail brown, like a dead winter scene. This is why I never wanted to become an elder, it takes the life right out of you. “You see young Kaiaka, there is tails of creatures unlike ourselves that control the elements. They live far to the north, beyond Okibi Ridge… in the Spirit lands. They are the Element Spirits, and they control not only Earth, Wind, Water and Fire, but many others as well. It is even said that they control light and darkness themselves! It is said that they were born in the stars and created our world, Eleenta…. but of course, this is only myth. But it is said that the main four live in the Spirit lands. If they do exist, then they might be the cause of all this madness.” My heart flew, this could be it. “That’s it father! It’s obvious that the dragons stole the Water Spirit and now it has stopped raining. We need to fight back!”
“We will do no such thing… because we already know that it is not the dragons doing.” said my father. He sighed and looked at me with grave eyes. “It seems the dragons are having the same problem, and they think it’s us. We got a message not to long ago… and they say that if we don’t fix this mess that they will come and make us.” My heart stopped. “You… you mean like a war?” Katie said from behind. I heard Crow ruffle his wings. No, not a war. “No… no father you can’t let this happen.”
“We have no choice Rosalin. We… we must fight back.” I inhaled a sharp breath as if I had been stapped. “No! You cant let them go into battle! I know how your sick mind works and I know your planning to make everyone fight.”
“It is as I said child, we have no choice.” I breathed out an rugged and exaspereated breath. Artek sensed my the anger boiling inside me.
“Now Rose, you shouldn’t-”
“Shut up Artek!” I barked at him. I’m sure that he was hurt, but I was to angry to care. Katie gasped that I would yell at him like that, and even Crow looked suprised. I glared back at my father. “Of course you have a choice! You can’t make them fight! If dehydration isn’t enough to kill them, this will. You could send someone to go and find the Spirits and see what the heck is happening!”
“Child, you know as well as I do that there are no-”
“Well maybe there are! Maybe we have a chance. Maybe we don’t have to fight. Maybe-”
“ENOUGH! I said no and that is final!”
I turned and ran, knocking Bluebell as I did. I shot through the bracken unconcerned if I was scratched by thorns or not. Once through, I ran faster. I just ran in any direction, I didn’t care. I just wanted go get away from all this. From him. I jumped over a log carelessly and fell flat on my face. I picked myself up and kept running, ignoring the blood flowing down my cheek. The tears stung my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them come out. I promised mom I wouldn’t. I ran until my feet wouldn’t let me any more. I slumped down against a tree and tried to catch my breath. I replayed all the events that had just happened. The yelling, the hope, the anger, the sadness. I looked inbetween the lines and realised something that I had done. Something that I now regreted. “I… I yelled at Artek…” I said. My voice cracked on his name and the tears started spilling out of my eyes. I was to weak and shocked to even wipe the shame of them away. I had just yelled at Artek, my best friend since we were kits. I hung my head, I could see the blood from my cheek drip onto the cold ground below me. Father was going to make everyone go to war. We were going to loose, and the dragons would win. The answers, acomponied by new ones, now swarmed in my head. Why did I yell at Artek? Why was my father doing this? Why did my mother leave me? Why was I still crying? Why did this all have to happen? Why were the dragons blaming it all on us? Why, oh why had I yelled at Artek? The crying turned into loud sobs and my head was pounding. These questions weren’t bees, they were hornets. They would fly around and sting, but they wouldn’t die after one shot. They would just keep stinging while more showed up, and they would keep stinging and they wouldn’t die until I knew the answers. I felt two stings; they were hard stings that weren’t in my head, but my heart. I was thinking about my Artek… and my mother. Why did he loose his eyes? Why did my mother die? I knew the answers to these questions, but the hornets kept stinging anyway, and they hurt 10 times more then the others, because the answer would just feed these two. Keep them living. Keep the pain alive.
“It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. Its all my fault. its all my fault…..”
Aldo-Old;elder-Germanic Kaiaka-Shadowed sea-Hawaiian Rosalin (Raa-su-lin)
Hope you liked it, the last part made me a bit sad, and I hope it made you want more. If you want me to post the next one, comment. Please comment about it right after you read this last line. Ok…now!~
From Maria (Don’t Forget Titles, Folks!)
September 14, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
i liked your pictures lainie. i always copy and save pictures and print them out later. and Mom, don’t forget that a lot of people check the site frequently but just don’t write much. i look once or twice a week but don’t add a whole lot. i do thoroughly enjoy reading everyone else’s stuff though so keep it up.
I loved this picture at the reunion of father and daughter
September 14, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [1]
father and daughter moment, priceless
Well…on an upside…this was the weather in Birmingham today
September 13, 2008 | Photoblog | No Comments
Ike’s Strike (But We’re All Right)
September 13, 2008 | Check-in | Comments [3]
Okay, that was a lot of fun.
Ike came ashore at Galveston around midnight, and by 3:00 in the morning things were getting really interesting up here. Power went out at 3:15 AM. The noise just from the wind was unbelievable. I know we got hurricane-force winds here but I don’t know the official windspeed for our area.
We lost a lot of shingles off the roof – along with most of our neighbors. Small Live Oak tree next door was pushed over, and our trampoline (which I had “U-Bolted” to the ground at eight points) flipped over the fence and ended in that neighbor’s backyard.
The fence between us and the neighbor on the other side is completely gone – unfortunate since they have a pit bull (yeah, they’re THAT kind). I’ve got some blue tarps that I’m gonna put up on the roof over our bedroom and the adjacent space on the west (front) side of our house. The roof leaked there and the ceiling is pretty torn up, I had to put plastic cartons under it overnight (”drip, drip, drip…”)
The power came back on around 4:00 this afternoon.
All in all, we came out okay. More than 20,000 people stayed on Galveston Island, we’re waiting to hear the death toll (everyone’s sure there had to be some deaths with the size of the storm surge).
I’ll let y’all know if anything else comes up.
Love to all who’ve asked and prayed.
If anyone has talked to bill
September 13, 2008 | Uncategorized | Comments [1]
Bill is in the middle of the storm right now. If anyone has talked to him, post it. I know he is under alot of rain, and his area is REALLY flat. I can’t imagine how fast the water can penetrate the ground as it is brown clay where he is and alot of rice fields for those who have never been there.