Muy Caliente

I had a post all prepared in my head – something about “Father’s Day” – that is, until I walked out of the office and met the wall of heat. All my thoughts just began to melt away and the coup de grâce was sliding into the seat of the truck and the thermometer reading 113 degrees in the shade. Day…ummm! The official temp was 107, but I happen to work in a geographical anomaly that is typically a heat trap and is 5-10 degrees hotter than the official temperature. My focus was then on getting home to let Gryphon out and into the cool of the house. I watched the temps fall as I climbed the escarpment and by the time I was home it was a respectable 104 degrees – my brain and the post slowly leaking away onto the sizzling asphalt. Gryphon was very glad to get into the house. Fortunately his “day house” only hit 81 that unbelievably hot day, so I think he was gladder to see me than escape the heat. I just wanted a beer and cold air!

Every day for a couple of weeks has been like this, full of good intention to work outside or write or work on a project and then the heat takes precedence as soon as I exit the building. I’ll still write the “Father’s Day” post, but Jimminy Louiseapoo my mind needs to solidify first!

I walked to the back of the house to check on the critters, who are usually gathering about the time I get off work. What I saw was Redford (the hog) wrapped around the #2 water tub. I have to say that I really felt sorry for him and his kin given the lack of natural water sources in the area. I watched for a while and soon he got up and stuck his whole head down in the water. I then unpacked the camera and by then he was in the #2 wash tub – first 2, then 4 wet cloven hooves. Yep! Packed pork in the tub and he stood there for a very long time. I would have never believed he would have fit his 250+ pounds in those confines, but he made it happen!

We’ve become hyper-aware of the need for water for these critters, as they will drain both birdbaths, a 3 gallon feed tub and the 15 gallon wash tub overnight. I see another tub happening this weekend. There is no natural source of water on the escarpment and the river below is quite a ways away. Fortunately most of the neighboring ranches maintain stock ponds and many of us here keep the water available; like my neighbor who keeps a 500-600 gallon tank full all the time. I’ve been amazed at the line of honey bees drinking around the rim of the birdbath in the back – sometimes 20-30 of them at a time.

Spring was too short and there wasn’t nearly enough rain during those months. I fear for our well this year and although we are sitting on the Edwards Aquifer, one of the most prolific artesian aquifers in the world, there isn’t an unlimited supply. We are watering only on a limited basis. We did get a little storm this morning, but it was only a half an inch all total.

I know many of you are being affected as well by these abnormal temps. Be safe! Be cool!

Dry!

Hot!

Dry and Hot!

Muy Caliente!!!

Is fall in the room???

El Chino

Publicado en Carboncito/ Perú

Militza Radmilovic : Hot Pics

Militza Radmilovic : Hot Pics

Militza Radmilovic : Hot Pics

Militza Radmilovic : Hot Pics

hot shama

Shama Sikander

hot shama

Shama Sikander

Wave of Dog Surrenders Possible In Wake of NYCHA Dog Breed/Weight Ban

Some city public housing residents are already finding themselves entangled in eviction proceedings since a rule banning Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and Dobermans, and any dog over 25 pounds, was enacted May 1st.

"The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has commenced tenancy eviction termination proceedings against [some] residents, although we don't know how many at this point," Debora Bresch, legislative liaison in government relations for the ASPCA says. "We do know that NYCHA residents have relinquished a number of dogs since April '09, some explicitly because of the pet policy." Other residents may have relinquished their newly-banned dogs for the same reason without expressly stating so at the time of surrender, Ms. Bresch says. "Of course, the dogs belonging to residents against whom proceedings have been initiated are at risk - as is any dog in violation of the policy."

The percentage of dogs who may find themselves back in the shelter system after having found homes with families who live in public housing may quickly reach the double-digits if early numbers obtained by New York Tails staff are any indication. Six percent of all dogs available for adoption from Animal Care and Control were adopted by public housing residents between January and April of this year, according to the ASPCA's preliminary count, approximately 172 dogs in total. Under the NYCHA housing rule, 107 of these 172 dogs are not supposed to be there, making them at risk for being returned back into the shelter system. Additionally, the rule states only one dog or one cat is allowed per apartment.

Memos informing tenants of their rights and ways they might be able to keep their pets are available at city shelters in the hopes they might prevent some surrenders. However, in an effort to reach people before they've brought an animal to the surrender point, the ASPCA and others are working with grass-roots organizations and local community groups to distribute the memos throughout public housing residences. Efforts are underway to translate the memos into Spanish, Chinese, and Russian and to publish them in respective foreign language newspapers. A copy of the memo can be found here: http://www.aspca.org/aspca-nyc/nycha-tenants-rights.html. "The purpose of the memo is to help guide residents through these adversarial proceedings," Ms. Bresch says.


Please check back often as New York Tails Magazine continues our in-depth coverage of this story.

Wheels On Fire

It makes me pretty sad to think that I haven't had a chance to write a blog post in almost a month! Things have been so insanely hectic! Me & mine moved out of our house in exactly 30 days. That my friends was HARD. Austin (my manpanion) was in the studio recording a record & getting ready for a 3 month tour. I was in the middle of designing new items for fall and creating lots of new jewelry for the Texas Roller Derby Battle on the Bank II - The largest roller derby event in the world! Making a creative mess while packing and downsizing is something I hope to never have to do again. But I have to say - it all went off with out a hitch. I'm in my new temporary home now, living in South Austin with my talented friend Adrienne who is an architect & all around design genius. She is also married to the drummer of Austin's band so we are keeping eachother company while our dudes tour across the US. We work out together every morning and trade off making dinner almost every night. This might just be the most healthy & grown up relationship I've ever had ;)

But what about the Battle on the Bank you say? Well, it was kind of incredible! Women from all across the country came out to compete against our "All Scar" Texas Roller Derby Girls! I spent the past weekend in a huge room filled with some seriously tough women on wheels!

In true Texas style - the theme was capital punishment and when you walked in the door you immediately saw an electric chair sitting just in front of the ring! Kinda scary, but people popped in and out of it all day posing for pictures. The crowd for this event really brought it! I'm talking costumes i.e. Jedi's, Ninja's, peacocks & of course the derby dolls themselves we decked out in war paint, tattoos, super cute booty shorts and flashy safety gear. Eye candy everywhere!


Of course, I was cheering for Austin's very own Lonestar All-Scar Army but the San Diego Derby Dolls reigned supreme, beating the LA Ri-ettes 78 to 76 in the final bout! SO Close! To see everyone's final scores check out www.derbynewsnetwork.com

As if all this heavy competition wasn't exciting enough - I am happy to report that I was in good crafty company all weekend long! So much talent! I had to keep reminding myself that I was there to work and make money, not shop and blow it all. Although I couldn't pass up a bottle of Bruise Balm from Glimmerance. Designed to help heal those of us who like to play rough so we can get back in the saddle a little sooner. I hope every derby doll went home with a bottle of this magical lotion! Oh did I mention that it smells lovely too? '


Other heavy hitters you should know about?
Diamonds & Guns
Devil Girl Designs
Lucy Blue Studio
Goth Martha
&
E Street Jewelry (etsy shop coming soon)

For all you ladies on wheels I highly recommend that you check out Jane Awesome. She has great gear, is a wealth of roller derby knowledge & can help you breath new life into your skates!

And if your wheels are on fire & you like it that way you should pick up a subscription to Blood & Thunder Magazine - the largest magazine dedicated to the revival of this awesome sport! www.bloodandthundermag.com/

xo!
Bonnie Rue

Scientifically Based Programs

If a child is dyslexic early on in school, that child will continue to
experience reading problems unless he is provided with a scientifically based,
proven intervention.

P. 34 Overcoming Dyslexia, Sally Shaywitz, MD

We sought out a tutor that provided such a program. There are a number of good programs out there - the program that Natalie's tutor uses is Bright Solutions. It is so encouraging to me to know that with the correct program, Natalie will be reading at grade level in hopefully about three years. With the public school, she probably would never be "bad enough" for help - and if she did recieve it - without using a proven program for Dyslexic children - she would still remain behind and struggling.

Summer Cupcakes

La Cabeza

¡Me entrevistan!

Sunday Scrapping

Like I said last Sunday, I participated in a challenge two weeks ago. Here is the challenge sketch:



And here is the page I did:


I didn't win, but you can go here to see all the contenders...

Anyway, the challenge this week was to use contrasting colors from opposite sides of the color wheel. I choose blue and red-orange:


I also scrapped four other pages. This was an ice skating trip from last December:


I love these pictures! My sis-in-law snizzle-sis took them at her house last fall and they have always reminded me of how JOY feels.


This page is four misc. photos from last year:


This is the second page of a two-page layout of my brother's homecoming to his base in Germany last September after a 15 month deployment in Iraq. I started the first page, but the electricity went out at our church during craft night Friday just as I was starting it. I'll get it done this week.

A post about nothing

I'm starting to exercise again. Yay! I won't be running for a while, but I still manage to get a 45 minute walk in most days. And I didn't gain any weight while I was down, something I was worried about. In fact, I lost 2-3 pounds. And despite my harrowing doctor's checkup a couple of weeks ago, I am healing really well. I feel almost back to normal.

I just gotta say how wonderful I feel to have a family like mine. Everyone is healthy and God has allowed me to stay home with my kids as well as have a wonderful, supportive husband. I am so blessed. And my kids are the sweetest!

OK, that's all for now. Maybe I'll come up with something witty or at least interesting later, but for now, Sniz out!

Our Schools

The quote below really struck me personally - Sometimes I think the public school system needs some serious help.

“The notion of dyslexia as a discrete entity has provided the basis for a special-education policy that provides services only to those who satisfy what are seen as specific, unvarying criteria… Children who do not meet these arbitrarily imposed criteria may still require and benefit from special help.”

“By not recognizing shades of gray represented by struggling children who haven’t yet failed enough to meet a particular criterion, schools may be underidentifying many children who will go on to experience significant reading problems.”
Data from the Connecticut Longitudinal Study for Dyslexia, p.28 Overcoming Dyslexia, Sally Shaywitz, MD

Early Diagnosis

The public school system likes to wait until a child is failing before they receive "assistance." This does seem to make sense on a basic level. I am sure that they cannot "afford" to help everyone - so they are holding out for the most "needy." However - with dyslexia- early intervention is crucial. It is the difference between a child being able to read at "grade level" - or ALWAYS - (into adulthood) struggling. Natalie is doing "allright" in reading right now - (she is at a 2.2- she should be at a 3.0) but everywhere I've read - the third grade is the "brick wall" of reading. (Natalie enters the third grade this fall.) I am hoping that I "caught" this in time. She is starting her tutoring a year past what would have been optimal - simply because a year ago I hadn't even considered dyslexia- I simply thought she was a little slow.

Speaking of children with dyslexia:

“A little knowledge and careful analysis of the child’s case would soon make it clear that the difficulty experienced was due to a defect in the visual memory of words and letters; the child would then be regarded in the proper light as one with a congenital defect in a particular area of the brain, a defect which, however, can often be remedied by persevering and persistent training. The sooner the true nature of the defect is recognized, the better the chances of the child’s improvement.”

p. 22 Overcoming Dyslexia, Sally Shaywitz, MD

It's Really Pretty Simple

In a Time Magazine Article, entitled: The Church and Gay Marriage: Are Mormons Misunderstood? Elder Ballard is quoted as saying:

"Our Message for the World," says M. Russell Ballard Jr., one of the 14 apostles
just under Monson, "is that we are His children, we lived with Him before we
came here ... we're striving to keep His commandments so that when we die we can
be entitled to receive all the blessings that the Heavenly Father has for His
children." Ballard adds emphatically, "People like to make it complex. But it's
really pretty simple."

Why Women Are Unhappy - An Esoteric Reality

Shalom Phylliss Schlafly:

While your WorldNetDaily article entitled Why Women Are Unhappy is factual and informative, there yet exists another element to the equation that you have not even come to imagine with respect to the destructive reality of Feminism. In order to lay a brief foundation that would expedite your enlightenment which will assist you in understanding the esoteric truths that have been long lost by our modern society: On the subheading entitled The Mystery Of The Gospel at http://TheThreeLies.com#mystery , it is clearly demonstrated that the inner core of disciples possessed an esoteric knowledge that could not be reveled to the multitude of people whose minds had not been prepared to even contemplate spiritual realities that modern quantum physics has only now begun to shed light upon. Thus, what man thinks he knows, is only the tip of the iceberg of an almost incomprehensible higher reality soul and spirit.

If you can come to terms with the facts presented at the above subheading that there is more to life than what meets the (carnal) eye of man, then let me take this esoteric fact one step further and state that there is a higher purpose to Marriage than physical sex and the propagation of the species. And while there is a great deal of important knowledge and concepts between the above subheading, and the one entitled The Cosmic Ovum And Sperm (see http://TheThreeLies.com#CosmicOvumAndSperm , it is here at this subheading where you will find an esoteric reality of the sexes and Marriage that our modern Feminist driven culture is simply not prepared to confront. Further, you will also find out why homosexuality in the Bible is portrayed as a sin.

Mankind, as portrayed in the parable of the lost prodigal son, is imbued with freewill -- and while, as the divine offspring of Creator-God, man can delay his ultimate Destiny, the exercise of freewill does not permit him the power to negate the very purpose and objective of life which he must eventually come to terms with. And it is not until you come to understand the innate power and higher purpose of gender to bring this higher Destiny about in the threefold process of birth, that you can even begin to grasp why most women feel a great void in their lives. And while the traditional Church religion had created one type of void that opened the door to Feminism, in not understanding the reality of the first void, Feminism only created a much greater void that served to deepen the emptiness that many women, because of their elevated intuitive powers of mind, experience more than men. If you continue reading the article, it will be revealed to you that we exist as an embryonic image of our higher soul-self -- and women who possess the innate mental ability to more easily connect intuitively with their inner source of being and higher spiritual reality that our culture has alienated mankind from, will continue to remain unhappy, because they not only intuitively know that there is more to life -- but they know that they are more than what the superficial role as a culturized physical woman permits them to be in this world. And thus, they are therefore driven to seek a higher reality that is near impossible to achieve, because of the philosophical and cultural restraints they are forced to live under at present. And while it can be said that they very much hold the feminine key to the ultimate success of all of mankind, the fact that they are culturally barred from utilizing this key -- even though they intuitively suspect that they possess the key -- is what makes them inherently miserable in all their worldly endeavors which continue to immerse them in a void of forced and constrained emptiness.

There is an answer, but few people are willing to pursue it beyond the limits of man's cultural thinking-box that he has encased himself in.

GodSpeed in TheWay,

Allan Cronshaw

PO Box 780

Graham, NC 27253

If at first you don't succeed...

I'll just let Samantha entertain you ... add your own narration - surely there's some creative dialog in there ... mine's fled! :)

Some symptoms to look for...

When I started wondering if Natalie had dyslexia - I looked up some symptoms on several web sites - here is the most comprehensive list that I found. It was on WebMd. I found the adult symptoms helpful - as dyslexia is generally genetic - and yet most go "undiagnosed" - determining that dyslexia was in my daughter's "genes" was part of diagnosing her.

They said on Web MD:

If your child has one or two of the signs, it does not mean that he or she has dyslexia, but having several of the signs listed below may mean that your child should be tested.

- A preschool-age child may:

• 
  Talk later than most children.
  Have more difficulty than other children pronouncing words. For example, the child may read aloud "mawn lower" instead of "lawn mower."
  Be slow to add new vocabulary words and unable to recall the right word.
  Have trouble learning the alphabet, numbers, days of the week, colors, shapes, how to spell and write his or her name.
  Have difficulty reciting common nursery rhymes or rhyming words. For example, the child may not be able to think of words that rhyme with the word "boy," such as "joy" or "toy."
  Be slow to develop fine motor skills. For example, your child may take longer than others of the same age to learn how to hold a pencil in the writing position, use buttons and zippers, and brush his or her teeth.
  Have difficulty separating sounds in words and blending sounds to make words.
  

A child in kindergarten through fourth grade may:

• 
  Have difficulty reading single words that are not surrounded by other words.
  Be slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds.
  Confuse small words such as "at" and "to," or "does" and "goes."
  Make consistent reading and spelling errors, including:
  Letter reversals such as "d" for "b."
  Word reversals such as "tip" for "pit."
  Inversions such as "m" and "w" and "u" and "n."
  Transpositions such as "felt" and "left."
  Substitutions such as "house" and "home."

A child in fifth through eighth grade may:

• 
  Read at a lower level than expected.
  Reverse letter sequence such as "soiled" for "solid," "left" for "felt."
  Be slow to recognize and learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other reading and spelling strategies.
  Have difficulty spelling, and he or she may spell the same word differently on the same page.
  Avoid reading aloud.
  Have trouble with word problems in math.
  Write with difficulty or have illegible handwriting. His or her pencil grip may be awkward, fistlike, or tight.
  Avoid writing.
  Have slow or poor recall of facts.
  
  
  

Students in high school and college may:

• 
  Read very slowly with many inaccuracies.
  Continue to spell incorrectly or frequently spell the same word differently in a single piece of writing.
  Avoid tests that require reading and writing, and procrastinate on reading and writing tasks.
  Have trouble preparing summaries and outlines for classes.
  Work intensely on reading and writing tasks.
  Have poor memory skills and complete assigned work more slowly than expected.
  Have an inadequate vocabulary and be unable to store much information from reading.
  
  
  

Adults with dyslexia may:

• 
  Hide reading problems.
  Spell poorly or rely on others to spell for them.
  Avoid writing or not be able to write at all.
  Be very competent in oral language.
  Rely on memory rather than on reading information.
  Have good "people" skills and be very good at "reading" people (intuitive).
  Have spatial thinking skills. Examples of professionals who need spatial thinking abilities include engineers, architects, designers, artists and craftspeople, mathematicians, physicists, physicians (especially orthopedists, surgeons), and dentists.
  Often work in a job that is well below their intellectual capacities.
  Have difficulty with planning and organization.
  Be entrepreneurs, although lowered reading skills may result in difficulty maintaining a successful business. Terrible spelling.
  

The Journey Begins

Natalie's Dyslexia tutoring begins this morning. I can tell that I am on a journey, and I am learning every day. I wanted to start a blog to document our journey- and perhaps help anyone headed down the same road.

Sunday Scrapping

I used to have a Sunday Scrapping post regularly, but have gotten out of the habit, so I have a lot of catching up to do. My daughter, Baylee, has become a scrapper too, and that is fun to share my hobby with her! This week, I entered a challenge put forth by my scrappin sistah, (and sister-in-law) which my BFF Toni won - rightly. :-)

At our church craft night Friday, I scrapped this page of our 16th anniversary dinner last October.

This is a three-page layout of a a weekend at my parent's timeshare in French Lick, Indiana last November.

This is my fortieth birthday breakfast last October.

This is my birthday trip to downtown Indianapolis.

A homeschooling trip to the Indiana State Museum, plus some misc. stuff.

An old picture that didn't belong anywhere, so I had fun just putting one picture on this page.

Same with this one.

Christmas at my Grandma's house. Baylee was in rare form!

My computer's power cord gave up the ghost today, so if I don't have time to visit any blogs today, I promise I will when the new cord comes in! Until then, I have to finish this before the battery dies! Hope you all have a good week!

June 13, 2009

I know all of you are on pins and needles wanting to know how our chore system is working. Well, we started out strong and our house looked better than it had in a while. I started just giving them one misc. chore each morning that consisted of anything I saw around the house that needed done...like straighten the books on the kids' bookshelf, or wash the wall where there were water-marks that had been bugging me (but that I hadn't done myself :-)) or go through the shoe basket and find any socks and put them in the dirty clothes or empty out the vacuum cleaner. Slowly but surely things were getting done and I was checking their work regularly. It's now a week into it and the kids are starting to complain. So they still do their chores, just more reluctantly. That's human nature, I guess.

And for those of you interested in the winner of the scrap challenge, my BFF Toni won! Not only was her page beautiful, but we all agreed that the title and the journaling was so creative and cool, not-withstanding that someone in her family that shall remain nameless thought the half-circles on the bottom of the page represented a certain part of the female anatomy. Save us from male scrapbookers! Although BD DID scrap a very cool page once and he loves to put little captions coming from the mouths of the people in the photos. He's cool that way.

First NYCHA 'Casualties' Begin to Show Up At City Shelters--New York Tails Magazine Investigation Underway

Meet Alee (skinny puppy) and Bustah (older dog.) Both were turned in, according to official owner surrender paperwork, because of the "NYCHA ban." They arrived at the shelter this past weekend. This information is just some of the facts that have been coming to us here at New York Tails Magazine during the course of our extensive investigation into the NYCHA rule and the reasoning behind it. No relying on other people's reports, blogs, or twits here. Lead reporter Courtney Kistler has been in the projects, talking to the residents, getting to know the people and the animals there, and digging up the good, the bad, and the ugly truth from all sides of the debate.

If you haven't ordered your subscription to New York Tails yet, you might want to do so now so you don't miss our Summer 2009issue, where this exclusive investigative story will be featured.

A Flood or a Flicker?
Asked if there has been a notable increase in the number of dogs like Alee and Bustah arriving on the shelter steps since the NYCHA ban, AC&C spokesman Richard Gentles said no. Mr. Gentles said he'd spoken to each of the shelter supervisors recently (there are AC&C facilities in each of the five boroughs, although Queens and the Bronx only receive animals.) "For NYCHA pet owners that come to the shelter, we give them a flyer explaining the process for them to keep their pets," Mr. Gentles said. "This seems to be working because they leave the shelter with their pet."

A memo is now supposed to be posted in, and distributed from, each AC&C shelter and other places where animals are likely to be surrendered telling NYCHA residents that they may have a right to keep their pet, hopefully averting a surrender. This is the memo:
NYCHA Resident’s Rights
http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/press/memo2009-06-08.pdf

Right before (or concurrently with, it's unclear to me) this memo was issued, the ASPCA issued press release to the media titled "Revised Pet Policy Threatens Dogs Belonging to NYCHA Residents ASPCA Letter Outlines NYCHA Tenants’ Rights.". The rather strongly worded release went on to describe how the "NYCHA Dog Policy Bites" (direct quote). Both Laura Maloney, ASPCA Senior Vice President of Anti-Cruelty, and Jane Hoffman, president of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, were quoted in the release stating their strong disagreement with NYCHA's policy.

While well-intentioned, I'm not sure any of this is going to work. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

Here's why.

Many of the people who live in the PJ's (projects, ie, NYCHA housing) are loathe to 'rock the boat' when it comes to their apartments. Having a low-cost, relatively livable apartment anywhere in this city (I include all five boroughs in this) is as good as hitting the lottery. Couple that with the highest unemployment rates in decades and fear of losing one's job (if it hasn't been lost already) and even people who absolutely love their pets are apt to make the hard choice of giving up their pet. Many of us who are more fortunate are quick to condemn people who make this choice--an apartment over a pet--but we have options. Lots of people in NYCHA are a paycheck or disability check away from homelessness. Guess what they're going to choose.

Secondly, there are a fair number of people in the PJs for whom English is a second language, Spanish and Chinese are currently two of the most common. Once again, someone who is afraid of losing their apartment and has a shaky grasp of English is probably not going to be up for a fight if they even have a remote fear of losing their apartment.

Then again, I could be completely wrong. Part of the reason we're in this predicament is because the previous law a few years back banned dogs over 40 lbs. This provision, however, was apparently not enforced too vigorously. There may be the same lax attitude toward enforcement this time around as well toward the over-25 lbs dogs.

We shall see.

scrapbook challenge

Recently my snizzle-sis, Lehi, issued forth a scrapbook challenge unto us. Those of us with courage to face said challenge, used the following sketch as a guideline:



Baylee (my 12 year old daughter) came up with this:



Here's Lehi's page:


Here's Wani's two pages:




Here's mine:


And here's Toni's: