This photo from the White House Flickr account shows a young boy rubbing President Barack Obama’s head. Reportedly, “The youngster wanted to see if the President’s haircut felt like his own.”

Having a self-identified black man in the White House matters. Yes, it does.

Gay white rapper

Why do I even bother?

Well I decided Isaac and I would check out our new ward (church congregation) today. It was a disaster from start to finish. And finish was only about 2/3 of the way through sacrament meeting when I hauled him out of the chapel by his upper arm, drug him out to the front lawn, where I completely lost my patience and screamed at him and shook him and threw him in the car. Fabulous first impression. The intolerably obnoxious preschooler who spent literally the whole entire sacrament meeting going "I waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant to go hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooome. I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate chuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurch" and the insanely violent mother.

Saturday

Yesterday I did my pre-settlement walk through where the project manager showed me every valve, switch, button, pipe and hose and how to work every appliance. Kind of overwhelming. I hope I remember it all! He also gave me a big binder with every warranty, and a video to watch about how to care for my cabinets. I am sure it will be very riveting. Confirmed that everything was finally reading for settlement Thursday. Today Bought my furniture. It comes with an upholstery shield plan where they will come back and clean any stains from foods or beverages for a lifetime. Should be useful! Set up the moving truck. E-mailed muscly friends and family members to enlist them for moving. Things are coming together which is good. I just wish school would hurry up and get out. It would be so much easier to tend to all of these details if I wasn't so consumed with work stuff. How are things going for all of you?

Books

Isaac is currently rubbing lotion onto my feet. Does life get better than this? I don't think so. I have been doing some reading lately which has been awesome. I have neglected reading for pleasure for so long that it has been so refreshing to pick up a book again. A Girl Named Zippy - 3/5 stars An autobiography done in different snapshots. It was okay. The scattered tone and mixed up time line got tiresome after a bit. It was a quick and humorous read though. Breaking Dawn 2/5 Stars Ugh, where to start. Okay, well I will start out by admitting that I read this book in less than five days. I read over 200 pages in 36 hours. It is like a train wreck, you want to look away, but you can't. You can't put the book down. My critiques of this book are the same that I have had for the whole series. Bella is a piss poor role model for young girls; she continues to be written as annoyingly weak and helpless. She does grow a bit of a spine and make important decisions without Edward (and even keeps a secret from him- *gasp*). She starts off the book by deciding not to go to college and getting married. By the time her honeymoon is over she is knocked up with a half vampire baby. Her whole life continues to center around Edward who finally changes her to be a vampire. I will admit, that Edward was less annoying in this book, and definitely did not display as many signature characteristics of an abusive, controlling boyfriend as he did in the first book. This book features about 100 more vampires, all with special characteristics that you have to try to keep straight and waaaaaay too much info about the sex life of vampires. Anyways, if you are in the mood for a light, fluffy, not terribly well written read, I recommend the Twilight Series. Next on my reading list: Water for Elephants. Anyone else have any recommendations? I want to read at least ten books this summer.

Pride

So I added some music.

But don't worry, it won't make it play unless you want it to.

Disclaimer (lest I be called out for being a hypocrite): this album is the ONLY exception to my strict no country policy. It is an awesome record and there is a great documentary called Shut Up and Sing about how they wrote it the whole thing.

It can get pretty lonely when you show yourself

Guess I could have made it easier on myself

But I, I could never follow

No I, I could never follow

Well, I never seem to do it like anybody else

Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down

If you ever want to find me I can still be found

Taking the long way

I have definitely chosen the long way around in so many aspects of my life. The song talks about how her high school friends are married and moved into houses but she could never follow. My own stubborness, pride, rebelliousness and desire to go against the grain have led me on a different path than pretty much everyone I grew up with. Most of my (church) friends from high school moved out west, met their soulmates, and are married and have a mini-van full of kids. I left for college and went through some terribly rebellious years with everything culminating in my pregnancy. The path since then has not always been easy. I wonder why I can't be more humble and submissive and open to people who are trying to help me to a better way. I guess the hopeful part is that I am "getting it back on the road somehow" even if I have chosen a longer way....

Anyways, that's all.

To A Child Love is Spelled TIME

I found this book amongst my mom's stuff. I don't know where it came from. But I picked it up. It's a collection of quotes and short stories about what yoru children really need from you. Some of it hit really close to home. I realized that during the week I leave for work before Isaac wakes up. I come home at 4:30, by 7:30 I put Isaac in bed and 8:00 is light's out. That does not give us very much time together and I certainly crowd out that precious time too often with unimportant things. I need to do better. Here were some my favorite quotes from the book:

"Our greatest danger in life is permit urgent things to crowd out the important" - Charles E Hummel

"Things that matter the most must never be at the mercy of things that matter the least" -- Goethe

"You will never find the time to spend with your children. You have to make time and plan for it. There is no other possible way. Time is the raw material of your relationship with your child and must be guarded at all costs. It's true what they say: a bucket with a hole in it gets just as empty as a bucket that is deliberately kicked over. Life will shout a thousand demands to take you away from time spent with your child. If you permit the urgent to rule, you will use time you can never recover or catch with your hand. What happens in the changing life of a child will never be repeated. All the gold in the world cannot buy back either the delights of the day or the big pleasures that happen without announcement or plan. You simply have to be there" - p. 22

"Enjoy your children, delight in them, and they will take pleasure in you. You'll never find a hand that feels so good as your child's. Nothing in this creation compares to cuddling and snuggling with your little one. Have you searched the fathoms of the mystery in your child's eyes? Have you listened to your child's prayers and cried out to God for such a simple faith? Do you delight in holding your precious one in the night, even till morning's light? If you miss the joy of being a parent, your child will miss the fulness of your love."

Also

My mother is having some pretty serious health concerns. Your thoughts and prayers for her would be much appreciated. She will probably be having a pretty major surgery coming up and it is pretty terrifying to even let myself begin to ponder the ramifications of that. It is weird when you realize that your loved ones are not invincible...

Happies and Crappies Weekend Edition

Happies

• I bought this fridge today:

It will be delivered the day after I settle. I had a 10% coupon so that helped. Now I just

need a couch of some sort and I will be all set as far as major purchases.

• I've also checked a few more big things off the list, like setting up my utilities and cable and phone in my name and purchasing home owner's insurance.

• I have listened to The Fray's I'll Look After You about 100 times today. They are rising higher and higher in the ranks of Bands I Love.
• We had an inservice day on Friday. The inservice in itself was sort of boring but it was lovely to just sit and listen and not have to run around after any kids. And wear a dress even. A dress would never fly on a typical school day. This week we have two field days (a special ed one and a regular ed one) and then the following Monday off of school. It's almost summer!!!

• I know this is a little late, but I also had a completely lovely mother's day. It really is one of my favorite days of the year. Isaac made me a really cute mug at school and he was so proud to give it to me. He **coughcoughGrandmacoughcough** also got me a rice cooker which is something I really wanted for the new place, so that was a total surprise. Being a mom is the best job in the world and I think it is so appropriate to have a day to reflect on what a wonderful calling it is. Where would the world be without mothers?

Crappies

• Isaac fell asleep for no more than 8 minutes in the car on the way home from his dad's. Now he won't go to sleep though. It's ten thirty and he has come out of his room approximately 582 times since I put him down.

• I put off applying for summer jobs (I know I need one but I really don't want to) and now the ones I wanted are all filled. I still think I can get one, but it will probably be in Pottstown. I was looking forward to a change. But, looking on the bright side, Pottstown ESY only runs Mon-Thurs, and every Friday off would be a major perk.

• Isaac's dad wants to take him to Florida for five days to visit his aunt this July. I have agreed but I am incredibly nervous. A few years ago I left Isaac with my mom and went to visit my aunt in San Diego for I think four days. That is the longest we have been apart. I think I will probably sit home and cry the whole time he is gone. IT's a whole swirl of emotions. A part of me is excited because his dad is so judgmental about my parenting skills yet he has never been with Isaac for than about 26 hours at a time. He might hum a different tune after a week straight with him with no breaks. Another part of me is petrified that he won't really take Isaac to Florida, that he will take him out of the country and over to Africa and I will never see him again. I know this is not likely, but it still concerns me. A third part of me is disappointed because I was planning a Disney World trip with Isaac next summer and I feel like he is sort of stealing my thunder. Meh.
• The mortgage company people want me to send them a copy of Isaac's birth certificate as proof of his age to verify that child support will continue for a while. The problem is one whole side of our two car garage is filled with packed up boxes and his birth certificate is one of them. No idea where. I did pull out about 5 boxes that were close to perifery and go through them. Ironically, I came across my father's birth certificate but no sign of Isaac's. So far, I have only two somewhat official documents that verify his age. One is a form from my child custody paperwork. His age is just written in in pen but it does have a court stamp and stuff on it. The other one (and this is really bad) is a letter from when he had to go to a urologist at Children's Hospital which references his full birthday. It also has a lot of medical information about what is going on with Isaac's junk and isn't exactly something I want to submit to my mortgage company. Ugh... I really hope this doesn't keep me from getting a mortgage. I am kind of nauseous thinking about it. I have a feeling I will end up paying, like hundreds of dollars to have his birth certificate overnighted or something.
• Lastly, I was trying to download some music onto my work laptop and ending up downloading another virus and now nothing on my computer will work. This will be the third time this year I have downloaded a virus. I am sure the computer tech people at my work must think I am a secret porn addict or something. This is less than a week after I lost my phone, and then bought a new one, and then found my old one.... Me and technology clearly do not mix. At all.

Have a lovely weekend!!

Walks are Back

Why is it when you eat a burger and fries you instantly look chubbier, but you can work out five days in a row and not look any more fit? So unfair. I have a hard time with the whole delayed gratification part of excercise (although I do enjoy the happy endorphin rush). Although my gym membership continues to get paid out of my account, I very rarely use it. However, in the spirit of summer swimsuits, overall healthiness and an effort to cut down TV time, I am returning to the evening passtime of my childhood and teenage years - the marathon walk. If you ever slept over at my house the chances are I forced you to come along on one of my five plus mile walks around the loops of my neighborhood. I have taken them back up again. (yay!) Top Reasons Why I Love my Evening Marathon Walks

• It's dark out. No one has to see me huffing and puffing during my attempts at short bursts of running. No one is the wiser if I am inspired to skip during a rousing Mika song on my Ipod or if I decide to stop and do some squats.
• Well, this is a subset of the above. I can scream out songs as I power walk and (probably) no one is the wiser.
• It's a good way to review/process your day, get your head wrapped around tomorrow.
• I get to be ALONE. I am taking advantage of it these last few weeks before my evening walks will probably be reduced to one a week.

Tonight's Top Ipod Selections

• Big Girl You are Beautiful by Mika. Maybe not the best workout message but upbeat enough to make me pick up my step.
• Get Me Bodied (Extended Remix) by Beyonce. It was really good timing as the part where she sings "Naomi Campbell, walk. Naomi Campbell walk, walk across the room like Naomi Campbell..." happened during a particularly long, straight runway like section of sidewalk.

Amazing!

http://www.fox8.com/wjw-news-face-transplant-text,0,4263414.story CLEVELAND, Ohio -- - Shot in the face by her husband four-years-ago Connie Culp of Hopedale Ohio was left disfigured. For four years she had no nose. The bony structure that once supported her face was gone, as was most of her face. She could not breathe other than through a tracheotomy, could not smell, could not even drink or eat normally. Several dozen reconstructive surgeries left her not much better off. Connie became afraid to go out in public where doctors say children would run away from her because of her appearance. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic set out to try something that had never been done before, not to the extent they had planned for Connie, a total face transplant. Specialists say their purpose for even considering the surgery is not cosmetic. Their goal was to restore her facial functions and to give Connie the ability to eat and breath, to smell and to interact socially as normally as possible once again. Surgeons in December removed not just the skin, but the bony structures underneath, the nerves, facial muscles, lower eyelids, the palate from a local donor and in a 22 hour surgery attached the donor face to Connie. On Tuesday she was helped to a podium at the Cleveland Clinic to show the world that the operation was a success."My name is connie, and while i know you want to focus on me, i think its appropriate that you focus on the donors family that made it possible that i could have this Christmas present i guess you could say" Doctors say the facial nerves that they reattached will slowly regenerate, giving her the ability to show emotion. Connie is able to smell and taste again, she can drink coffee from a cup, and breathe from her new nose. Specialists say her pain, which was constant before is nearly gone. "Connie's progression over the last few months is proof to all of us that even though face transplant was the surgical procedure of the last resort, it does work" Said Dr. Frank Papay of the Cleveland Clinic, a plastic surgeon who was part of the team. Doctors tell FOX 8 News Connie's new face will ultimately take on more of her own features than those of her donor. Medical Ethicists and Psychiatrists are also part of the team, that now expects to have to deal more with the question of who is and who is not a candidate.Dr. Maria Siemionow, a microsurgeon who was one of the lead surgeons in the case, says after having as many as 40 or 50 cosmetic surgeries to repair severe facial trauma or burns the cost could approach one million dollars. She estimates the cost for this procedure at between 250 and 300 thousand dollars. Connie used her time in front of cameras to also urge others not to judge people who are disfigured."I just want to say that, when somebody has a disfigurement, or don't look as pretty as you do, don't judge them, because you never know what happened to them" She acknowledged that she had been shot but would not go into details about the crime for which her husband was sentenced to 7 years in prison in 2005. "You never know what might happen to you and you might get into a car wreck and think you are beautiful one day ....and don't look the same as you did, you never know, one day it might be taken away" After four years being afraid to go out in public, Connie now simply wants to go home to her two children in Hopedale Ohio near Stubenville, and blend in. She will have to take medications to prevent her body from rejecting the transplant but so far so good. Doctors say there was only one episode where they were able to see clinical signs of rejection on day 47, several months ago, but that was addressed and since then she has been fine. The more time that passes since the surgery the less concerned they will become about her body rejecting her new face. Dr. Chad Gordon, a plastic surgeon who is part of the team says before the surgery Connie wrote down as her three top goals that she wanted to once again taste a steak, smell an apple pie, and be able to go out in public again without having children run away from her. "Now she can do all three" Gordon said.

Happies and Crappies 5/5/09

Happies

• I locked in my mortgage rate today-- 4.5% which is exciting check on my list of Things to Do Before I Move. We had projected my interest rate being a bit higher, so my mortage payment will be about 50 bucks less a month than I originally budgeted. That is a HUGE happy.
• We had a meeting today at school in which we discussed next year's rosters and caseloads. It seems that I will still have a job (hurray!) and that I will even be keeping my current assignment (double hurray!). Since I am a first year teacher, it is not a given that my contract will be renewed. It is still ironic to me that I ended up being a kindergarten and first grade teacher at all, much less that I am thrilled to do it again. Historically, as a day to day sub, I avoided kindergarten and first grade at all costs.
• The inside of the new house is getting painted and trimmed and flooring should be in. Hopefully I can schedule a walkthrough this week. The outside has been slowed down a bit because of the rain. The sidewalks and driveway have not been poured yet.

• I was peed on today by a student at school. This is under happies because my mom was home and willing to run me up a pair of workpants. Yay for moms!

• I have decided to dive into reading for pleasure again. I picked up a few from the library including Water for Elephants and Breaking Dawn. I have started in on A Girl Called Zippy, which so far is all right. My mom brought me home The Potentially Sane Mother's Guide for Raising Young Children from Deseret Book when she was out west for my sister's graduation. I have been keeping it in my purse and reading it a few pages at a time. It is pretty good. Finally, I have been reading What Good Teacher's Do Differently for my book club at school. So lots of good reads.

• My brother Tom came home for the weekend and, as he almost always does, generously helped with with my car. The mechanics at Oaks Automotive had done their part to get it up and running but they didn't fix the knocked off mirror and the dent that prevented my passenger side door from opening. Both of those items are now fixed for less than 15 bucks after my first ever trip to the junk yard. Talk about an enviroment where I am COMPLETELY and TOTALLY out of my element. I had my brother document on his Iphone.

For your own future reference, there is a rule at the junk yard about no open toed shoes. I think that it is a very good rule.

Crappies

• Crappy is pretty much the only way to describe Isaac's behavior as of late. It seems like everything out of his mouth is a rudely phrased demand and it is generally SHOUTED at the top of his lungs. He is also in a vicious sleep cycle. For some reason when Isaac goes to bed late, he tends to wake up earlier than usual. He has been getting up insanely early (4:30 am has been our earliest wake up as of late) which causes him to nap at school, which makes him not at all tired when it is time for bed at night... I am sure this is part of what is contributing to his generally atrocious behavior.

• Money - there is just never enough. And, as I have blogged about before, the house purchase and move is making me obsessed with things I need and want to buy and that makes me feel materialistic and selfish. I am trying to keep my head on straight.

What's new with all of you?

Over the past month or so I have come to realize...

I really, really dislike being by myself. Like physically by myself in an empty house. Isaac is gone to his dad's. As usual, my parents are gone to Lancaster. TV blaring just so the house doesn't feel so cavernous.... Nothing to do.... All night... No one to talk to... Before I thought that I would love it. But actually I hate it. I hope I don't become a depressed heap when I move.