World Habitat Day - October 5, 2009

Let's stand up on World Habitat Day and let it be known that affordable, adequate housing should be a priority everywhere—in our communities, in our towns, in our country, in our world.

There are many ways you can help:

ADVOCATE Photo by photo, Habitat for Humanity advocates have created this mosaic that has already been sent to the White House. Now it is time to deliver a strong message to Congress: Make housing a priority. Pass legislation that would prioritize adequate and affordable housing. Ask Congress to Make Housing A Priority on World Habitat Day!

EDUCATE your community with Habitat for Humanity’s World Habitat Day handbook to learn more about the importance of secure tenure and neighborhood revitalization. Get even more information about the issue of insecure tenure by reading Habitat’s Shelter Report: building a secure future through effective land policies.

Brainstorm ways to get more people involved. Learn from the successes of last year’s campaign, and come up with brand-new ways to celebrate and publicize the important work of Habitat for Humanity.

Take a virtual tour of the Capotillo informal settlement in the Dominican Republic and put yourself in the shoes of those who live in a broken community of violence, poverty and danger.

Link to Habitat for Humanity’s World Habitat Day 2009 resources page on your social media pages, personal web site or blog to spread the word and raise awareness.

DONATE to be a part of making the world a better place and support Habitat’s efforts. Donate online today!

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

So, the longest contest known to women (and men) of the blogosphere is finally over. We have five lucky winners of the Michael Bublé Live CD+DVD package - Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden. I have sent emails to the winners, however, I do not have an email address for Redzoomer88.

Redzoomer88 - please get in touch with me so we can process your win!

Congratulations to the winners!

mverno
redzoomer88
ky2here
missrantspants
Gianna

Mesothelioma Cancer

A few years ago I worked for a personal injury firm and we did mostly toxic tort cases. I worked on the asbestos cases and it was hard work. Not physically grueling, more like mentally draining. I had a client who was only 45 years old. She had mesothelioma and had been given six months to live. She was determined to fight for her life and had several surgeries in order to prolong her life. She had a lung removed and several other follow up surgeries. She lived an extra 22 months after her diagnoses. Even though she was of no relation to me, her death hit me hard. It was like that will all of my clients. It was hard to get up every morning and part of your job is to check the obituaries to make sure none of your clients have died. Mesothelioma is a terrible cancer, one that too few people know about.

Oh the beauty of a natural stone sink!

As much as I long for a new kitchen sing with a really sexy faucet, the kind with the tall goose neck that allows me to fill my big boiling pot, it looks like the kids will get a new bathroom sink first. We are remodeling their bathroom and adding more counter and cabinet space. With two pre-teens, I can see the drama and arguing and bumping back and forth out of the way already. I started looking a new cabinet already and in doing so realized that their existing, one sink cabinet would be fine, but we need to get a whole new countertop. Since we’re doing that, I started looking at some absolutely beautiful natural stone bathroom sinks and came to the following conclusion:

I need to remodel my bathroom too. It’s only fair.

Sweet, sweet freedom!

I am out of school until October 13th. I am so happy I could kiss a stranger and her baby!

Tonight, I cleaned my kitchen, went through the mail stacks and threw out the crap, swept AND mopped the family room and dusted the whole house.

And ya know what? It felt G.O.O.D.

I'm so not kidding. It felt good to do something that a) I can tell is done as soon as it's done; b) I get immediate satisfaction from knowing that the thing is done and I don't have to wait for information before I can complete it; and c) I had a little energy to burn off and cleaning was a good way to do it.

There you have it. My night. Feel free to try this at home!

Finally, a floss my kids can use!

My kids are 9 and 12. It is rare that a product comes around that keeps their interest for longer than thirteen seconds. However, when we had the opportunity to try out the new kids floss by Dentek, I thought what could it hurt? We got the package about a week ago. Since then, my kids have used a fun flosser every single night. They floss every night and twice on the weekends. The fun flossers are sturdy, colorful, fruit flavored and hold up to the rough handling that comes with kids. The upside for me, as the parent, is that it only takes one fun flosser to complete a mouth full of teeth, unlike the old floss we used that took a couple two or three strands of floss to complete and then there was all that wasted floss because you needed enough to wrap it around your fingers so you could grip and manipulate it. Additionally, the fun flosser makes it easier for my kids to get their back teeth without sticking their whole hand in their mouth or cutting their lips and gums. I wish I had these fun flossers when they were younger, it would have made flossing a toddler much, much easier.

This is their video explaining why Dentek Fun Flossers are best thing since cupcakes:



THIS IS A PAID REVIEW OF DENTEK FUN FLOSSERS, WHICH WERE PROVIDED TO ME FREE OF COST.

Statistics Smatistics

I am almost done. Thisclose to being done with the worst class I have ever taken. In. my. entire. life. I am so not kidding.

In all honesty, I think my pure hatred for this class and it's material may have contributed to the crappy mood lately and my absolute, unmitigated desire to do nothing in this class.

I'll be done tomorrow. Tomorrow cannot come to quickly. Not at all.

Don't go it alone

I’ve worked in various legal fields in the past 15 years. I did corporate law, gas and oil, domestic (ICK!), bankruptcy and mortgage foreclosure, insurance defense, plaintiff’s work, toxic torts and criminal defense. I L.O.V.E.D. criminal defense. My next favorite was plaintiff’s work because it really does give you a good feeling to know that you have helped someone to right a wrong. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. The one thing that criminal and plaintiffs work have in common is that motorcycle riders usually get a raw deal. Oakland motorcycle accident lawyer Michael Padway is working to help riders. He understands the bad rap riders get and he works for the rider. Attorneys like Michael are few and if I were ever in need of an attorney, I would call Michael. Don’t worry about how you will fix your motorcycle or how you will pay your medical bills. Call for help. Get advice. Don’t go it alone.

I'd have horses if I won the lottery. Serious.

Last night I failed, yet again, to win the lottery. I don’t know why the money stars in the heaven don’t shine down on me. Perhaps it’s because they know that I will squander a good portion of the money on things like paying off my bills, paying off my house, buying a ranch in the mountains somewhere so I can take in and foster animals who don’t have a home and where the wild animals can come and live freely. I want horses, geese, goats, ducks and my dogs. I want to be able to sit on my front or back porch and gaze at the mountains and watch the moose go past as the elk go from one mountain ridge to the next. I want to have the money to take good care of animals who have not had care in the past. I want to be able to buy horse supplements if and when I need them, not worrying about how to afford a blanket in the cold winter or wormers and leather conditioner and hay. I want to know that when I finally have my dream home, I have the money to take care of the animals I welcome in.

Is that Light I see?

I've been back and forth with the doctor, taking test after test after test to determine why I am so tired. Why the weight wasn't coming off. Why I felt like crap all the time.  Finally it was determined that my hormones were fine. It was my brain chemicals that were wonky.  I've been on meds for almost a month now.  So far, so good.  Hopefully, this is exactly what I needed to get back on track. 

Well, meds and finishing the class from H.E.L.L. also know as statistics and measurements.