Hey everyone!! I hope your weekend turned out great! Hopefully this week will speed by with ease For me, this week will be packed, because I have TONS to do before I leave for my cruise! I can’t believe we leave so soon. Gotta thank my awesome parents’ for house, cat and dog sitting while we are gone – the perks of having retired parents. Now don’t go throwing any parties here, mom and dad

Yesterday’s breakfast was an old time favorite for breakfast:

Oats in a Jar. Mmm mmm mm. I made the standard banana, agave, almond milk, flax oats, and when finished, poured it all in this almost gone jar of Almond butter. So good – every time!

Then I was off to meet my friend, Heidi at the gym. We did about 35 minutes of cardio, and then legs:

• plie squat w/ a calf raise
• one-legged squat
• dead lifts
• squats on BOSU
• lunges on BOSU

Let me tell you my booty was a ‘burnin!

Speaking of booties. After coming home and getting all showered up, I set out to do four solid hours of studying my ACE off for the ACE exam. It’s coming up quick, and with the cruise coming up, I have minimal time to study. I’ll be taking my study materials with me on the cruise, but I have a feeling there won’t be any marathon study-sessions. Instead of studying my ACE off, I’ll be relaxing my ACE off. Ohh yeah Anyway, this is what my afternoon looked like:

With a side of Twitter and your lovely blog reading for distraction!

And to fuel my studious ambitions, I had some honesty:

Honestly the best tea evah.

Somehow the hours passed by like minutes, and it was suddenly time to get ready to leave the house. My girl, Becky, was having a Pampered Chef party about 45 minutes away, and I promised I’d be there. I’d never been to a Pampered Chef party, so I was pretty excited to not only see some good friends, but to see how it all went down. The consultant made two dishes for us: cheesecake and spinach artichoke dip, while we all thumbed through the catalogs.

Then she set out the toys and let everyone play! And you know I got in some play time:

With my friend Becky – Woo hoo!! Fun with the Julienne and knives! haha

My girl Kim went to town on a cheese grater:

That is some grade-A grating action right there, yo.

I ordered a few things, then headed back to the casa for some more work and studying, and then winded down with some Lunar Yoga, and called it a night. You know what one of my favorite yoga poses is (in addition to pigeon pose)?

source 

  Deadbug pose! I love how it stretches out the upper hammies.

I hope you all have a lovely day! This will be my first day back to work since Tuesday, so you know it’s gonna be craaazy! I’m counting on deep breaths, Christmas music, and hot tea to help me get through the day, hehe.

Until next time! Ciao!       

Dear Diary,

      Well diary I have finally decided to take my single-ness into my own hands and attempt to delve into the waters of internet dating! To be completely and utterly blunt – internet dating has been a little bit of a crap-shoot diary. Now before I totally taint your mind and turn you off it let me explain why I am about to give up and buy a boat load of cats.

       Lets begin with Johnny. Oh diary how my hopes were raised when I got a nice, sweet message from him! After some emails back and forth I decided he must have some redeeming qualities why not give him my phone number! After a few innocent text messages we decided to meet!  After only exchanging pictures and texts I have to admit diary I was a bit hesitant but figured what would I have to lose! As the door to his apartment swung open and my eyes surveyed the damage I was actually pleasantly surprised! I noticed right away he was free of acne and head-gear and was in possession of both his eyes and a mouthful of teeth! As the night progressed I realised quite quickly Johnny wasn’t the man for me. Maybe it was the fact he had a tattoo of spawn (with 7 fingers I might add!) or that he dressed up as the enchanting fellow from ‘Dragon Ball Z’ and took part in anime conventions – but something screamed virgin! Over the course of the days and nights that followed our first rendezvous my phone lit up like Rockefeller Centre at christmas – oh the texts, and calls! two or three in the course of 10 min! Oh Johnny, thanks but no thanks.

     Diary, after my first experience, one would think that I would have taken my toys and gone home! But I guess I must be a glutton for punishment. Next on the list of prince charming-esque men would be Ace. My dear sweet diary! With a name like Ace we can only be trading up from my last date!  How wrong was I! During the preliminary interview process I learned that he was a DJ! Oh a DJ – diary, this fellow must have some discernable talent!  That little nugget of information coupled with the fact he spins records was almost too much to handle! And before you knew it I was heading into East Van to meet my Ace. Now when  Ace walked around the corner and hit the lobby of his building I just about died. I was actually about to ask how he obtained the pictures he has posted on the internet – because diary, and I say this with the utmost respect – he looked like a keebler elf. There were so many questions – how did he escape from the keebler forest?! Where did he find the delightful neon green and yellow track pants he was wearing!? And most importantly I didnt know elf’s took interest in ‘house’ music! Needless to say our ‘date’ was less than exciting and left me craving cookies.

     Oh what will I do?! OH wait I know! Stop meeting ridiculous people on the internet you say!?  And so my dear diary I have to put to rest my foray into the wild and wonderous world of internet dating. Good riddance! But diary if you know of any middle-aged balding red-heads that may or may not be into anime please pass along my information! Until then I will be preparing my home for the 13 cats I will soon be in possession of.

with love and respect my diary & confidant,

xoxoxox Miss Singleton.

On Wednesday I was in London for a meeting with Clara Goldsmith, who is responsible for Arts Council England’s national arts engagement campaign, and Caroline Diehl, Chief Executive of The Media Trust. Clara updated us on progress with the campaign, which is due to be launched publicly in Spring 2010. We then looked in detail at the role The Media Trust might play by helping people to capture their own stories and documenting the various campaign activities around the country.

Robin Simpson.

I’m sure most of you are familiar with these images that have been circulating the blogosphere:

First, let me point out that Al Gore has failed at proving that Global Warming exists. That’s like trying to prove that Santa exists. Sure, wouldn’t it be dandy? But facts are facts and fiction is fiction. So, what does a has-been politician do when his life’s work has been proven time and time again to be a fraud? Well, if this has-been politician is Al Gore; he resorts to Photoshopping “evidence”. I mean, Photoshop trumps science, right? Wrong. Sorry, Al. It doesn’t. Just like whining about pregnant chads doesn’t win an election. YES, we all remember your whiny ass complaining about pregnant chads and dimples on ballots.

In the images above you can clearly see that several massive hurricanes have been Photoshopped. It’s been proven that hurricanes are at a 30 year low. Here are some graphs I found at Watts Up With That:

Both Northern Hemisphere and South Hemisphere AND therefore overall Global hurricane activity has continued to sink to levels not seen since the 1970s. Even more astounding, when the Southern Hemisphere hurricane data is analyzed to create a global value, we see that Global Hurricane Energy has sunk to 30-year lows, at the least. Since hurricane intensity and detection data is problematic as one goes back in time, when reporting and observing practices were different than today, it is possible that we underestimated global hurricane energy during the 1970s.

Using a well-accepted metric called the Accumulated Cyclone Energy index or ACE for short (Bell and Chelliah 2006), which has been used by Klotzbach (2006) and Emanuel (2005) (PDI is analogous to ACE), and most recently by myself in Maue (2009) , simple analysis shows that 24-month running sums of global ACE or hurricane energy have plummeted to levels not seen in 30 years.

Why use 24-month running sums instead of simply yearly values? Since a primary driver of the Earth’s climate from year to year is the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) acts on time scales on the order of 2-7 years, and the fact that the bulk of the Southern Hemisphere hurricane season occurs from October – March, a reasonable interpretation of global hurricane activity requires a better metric than simply calendar year totals. The 24-month running sums is analogous to the idea of “what have you done for me lately”. During the past 6 months, extending back to October of 2008 when the Southern Hemisphere tropical season was gearing up, global ACE had crashed due to two consecutive years of well-below average Northern Hemisphere hurricane activity. To avoid confusion, I am not specifically addressing the North Atlantic, which was above normal in 2008 (in terms of ACE), but the hemisphere (and or globe) as a whole. The North Atlantic only represents a 1/10 to 1/8 of global hurricane energy output on average but deservedly so demands disproportionate media attention due to the devastating societal impacts of recent major hurricane landfalls.

Interesting, indeed. Visit Watts Up With That for more information. Unless you’re a liberal. From what I understand; you liberals aren’t all that interested in facts and information. But, it’s there if you ever decide to quit being morons.

If you look at the second image I posted; the one with the faux-hurricanes… you’ll notice that the Arctic has magically disappeared! Funny, since the Arctic ice is currently at the SAME levels as 1979. The good people at Daily Tech pointed this out.

(click to enlarge)

Rapid growth spurt leaves amount of ice at levels seen 29 years ago.

Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close.

Visit Daily Tech for more information.

Also, NASA points out that the average temperature of the water near the top of the Earth’s oceans has significantly cooled since 2003. CLICK FOR NASA ARTICLE

BBC has found that we have not observed any increase in global temperatures for the last 11 years. Yes, that’s over ONE DECADE. CLICK FOR BBC ARTICLE

So… tell me… Why does Florida appear to be dissolving in Al Gore’s lame Photoshopped images? What the hell happened to CUBA? Last time I checked; Cuba still exists. Also; look at the SIZE of those faux-hurricanes. Anyone who actually believes this Global Warming bullshit simply WANTS to. There is no other conclusion.

Here’s something fun:
Letting Al Gore know we aren’t falling for his junk science, Portland, Oregon 11/18/09

Wake up, people. He’s cashing in and making BILLIONS off of easily influenced MORONS.

royal flush diamonds and joker

royal flush diamonds and joker

ace,card,flush,gamble,game,hand,poker,table,cards,poker  table,hand of cards,best,bet,betting,casino,chance,cheat,fluke,gambler,gambling,hold,luck,lucky,money,play,raise,sneaky,stakes,straight,texas,win,winner,background,cheating,destruction,bizarre,suspicion,success,criminal,thief,dishonesty,agreement,evil,adult,board,las vegas,chip,beverage

If life is a movie, I want Explosions in the Sky to score every minute of it. EPIC.

I’m going to see New Moon again with my flat mates and super special girlfriend. I’m kinda excited I really liked it and the twilight series so far is excellent. Jacob is fit.

Tomorrow I’m going for a meal with my darling, today we had sirloin steak and a mixed side salad potato meal, it’s going to be a good few days for us.

My communications firm plan has also been elaborated to incorporate a large violent growth. The concept is looking solid now, planning to work on it when my lady is away this weekend. Should be good. I do have a mates birthday Otley Run though…will end up slaughtered by 6pm and struggling to move.

Happy days. Blu-Ray films are my new fetish, the quality blows my banana.

My friend Louise sent me some questions today via Facebook, but given the way I ramble I thought it may be easier to blog it.

The questions are all to do with home education.

Here we go.

Have they ever been to school?

Only Joshua.  He went to school briefly in year 7.  We had enrolled him when we found out that we having Joey after very clear direction from the Lord.  He had a really positive experience and I would imagine would have continued there if we had stayed in Sydney.

He did well in his exams and settled into school nicely.  But only had a semester (half a year) there as we though we would be coming here in the September (remembering the Australian school term runs from Feb-Dec).

As it turns out we didn’t leave until the following Feb.  On hindsight we should have left him in school, but hindsight is called that for a reason!!!

As you know he is back at home and has been ever since.  So other than 6 months of his life, all our children have always been home educated.

How long have you been in the UK?

We arrived in the UK on the 8th of March 2008 which I guess means we have been here now for 20 months.

What was your reason for home-edding?

The official version is that a few days after Josh was born, I sat holding him our lounge room.  As a young newly married 21-year-old I think I was quite overwhelmed with the thought of raising a child.  I remember starting to talk to the Lord about how was I ever going to give the next 18 years of my life (at least) to raise this child.  As I sat there I remember seeing a picture in my mind’s eye of a young man.  Physically the man in the picture was a blur, but what I could see was his character and the fact that he had a myriad of experiences that had prepared him for whatever it was God was going to ask him to do next.

As I started to work backwards in my mind in the type of experiences this man-child would need to serve God, I arrived at his early years with the solution to my pondering.  The only way I could achieve it, was to home educate him in those early years, to strengthen him in character and the Lord.

Maria and Josh on mission trip in Fiji

Now I am not saying that this is the only way this end can be met, but it was Gods clear mandate to me for my child.  I remember feeling such a sudden sense of relief that my future was secure in terms of having a plan and a vision for our family.

Coupled with this somewhat esoteric (GOD) experience, was the fact that I had met some children that had been home educated while I was growing up.  There was just something different about them (in a good way) that I envied and it always just stuck in my heart as a teenager that this was something I would like to do with my own children.

When at university studying primary teaching, two things happened.  The first being that I had an open-minded lecturer who spoke about home education in a fairly positive light.  I remember first hearing the name Charlotte Mason and John Holt while in a university class.  The lecture was talking about some of her ideas/philosophies, but was lamenting how they just weren’t suitable to the primary school child.  I remember hearing about the fact that many children would struggle to read and may not have the physical capacity to read until about 8-9 years old, but because the way the classroom is set up ‘we just need them to read.’

Science at home in Sydney

The second thing that happened was that I made every effort to take prac’s in varied situations.  I did time at a well to do country boarding school, a Christian school, a lower socio-economic primary school, a Catholic school and a middle of the road every day primary school.  My conclusion was after seeing all of these places that children fell through all kinds of cracks.  Bright children were often  under stimulated, children who struggled where often left behind and often social/behavioral issues had a great impact on the learning that took place in classroom settings. I made up my mind that the benefit of home educating my children was that at least I loved them and had their ultimate best interest at heart, and I couldn’t do much worse than some of the cracks I was seeing in institutional settings.

So in spite of never hearing about home education,  Anthony agreed to allow me to home educate Joshua the year before he was due to go to school.  It was like a trial year.  He was obviously impressed enough to allow me to continue on throughout the years.

How do you cope if you want your kids to do some work and they

have “attitude” about it? Or does that not happen?

You obviously missed the day my Facebook status was;  Maria is wondering if you can suspend a home educated child?

Yes it does happen, but I would have to say most of the time it is not as bad as that particular day.  I have found in general the children know what is expected of them and get on with doing it.  Of course there are times and seasons where I need to jolly them along or get stricter with them, but most days they just get on with it.

The days that it does happen I put consequences in place and I stick to them.  Work not finished by a particular time, may mean an activity is missed out on

Jakob emptying a bed pan- Elizabeth Farm Parramatta

(like Cubs), or a ban is placed on tv or electronics, or on bad days a grounding may happen and if really bad, a grounding where they are sent to their bedroom is enforced.

Earlier this year I found out some work had not been completed that I had been told had.  This resulted in a very very long ban from electronics as well as working through the child’s summer holidays to get everything caught up and up to date.  We timetabled the amount of work that needed to be done to get caught up and it was expected that this would happen- it did.

One of the things I do like about ACE is that the children have set work that they need to get through each day.  I give them less work on days where we are out, but on days where we are home I expect a full load- with corrections done.  This is largely because this is what ACE expects.  On days like Monday where we were at Arts Award, no/minimal book work was achieved that day (depending on the child).

What resources/websites do you use?

At the moment I am using the following;

Joey- (Not every day or even every week sometimes)

Before Five in a Row

What your preschooler needs to know

Muzzy- Italian (because Josh and Kiyana are learning and can help him with it)

And I have joined ‘Enchanted Learning’ as it is a great little spot to get little bits and pieces to fill his time in with.

Jake, Emilia and Kiyana-

Are currently enrolled with Christian Education Europe- which is the provider of the ACE curriculum in this country.  This is a full curriculum (or as full as you want it) that comes packaged.  They children sit diagnostic testing and their first paces both fill in their gaps (according to ACE) and set their starting level.

Parents must undergo a training process in order to qualify to buy/implement the curriculum.

Currently we are covering

Maths

English

Creative literature and writing

Word Building

Social studies

Science

Bible (Emilia is doing it and Jake- should be doing it lol)

Visiting the Buddhist temple and Palace in Bangko

Joshua-

Started off with ACE this year, but I found it quite uninspiring and very dry for him (as did he).  I also thought the literature was to centered around using their own books rather than making use of fantastic literature that was already out there.  So he has just gone back to some old favourites with some new ones thrown in.

World History  English   Bible-  Notgrass curriculum

Maths- Math-U-See pre algebra

Science- Apologia Physical Science

I may yet bulk out this course, but for now the above is what I require.

Then we are also doing -

Arts award- Bronze

GCSE Italian ( Josh)

Fun Italian (Kiyana)

Swimming (all 4)

French (family)

Drama (all 4)

Here is a little of what we have done over the past 18 months (and a little before)-

Our humble veggie patch

We have been doing ACE curriculum since January this year.  Before that we have been largely eclectic in our approach.  I really like the Charlotte Mason philosophy and so we did do a lot of copy work, narration and dictation.  We also did some unit studies like the Praire Primer and Josh did their Narnia Era-Further up and Futher in. We have taken various approaches to language over the years with Kiyana learning with LEM Phonics and the others withTeach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. We swapped to Math-U-See a couple of years back and really loved it.  We were using the World Book Young Scientists for Science and had started reading the My Story books both here in the UK and in Australia where they have a curriculum written around the books.  We have always done some kind of grammar/english language book, usually just purchased from a teaching store as it would be in line with the NSW curriculum.

In the very early days Josh did AmblesideOnline. We have also done a bit of Story of the World, First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind.

If you had to define your home-educating method what

would you

say?

I don’t really.  I would probably use the term eclectic in that we don’t really follow one genre but rather follow the ebb and flow of family life.  I have been autonomous, natural, Charlotte Mason, Well Trained Mind, unschooled, structured and somewhere in between at various places in our home ed journey that now I don’t really know how to do define us so I don’t!

Since being here we have had some great travel opportunities which you just can not beat in terms of hands on learning.

Can you describe a typical at home day in your house?

Visiting Molly Malone in Dublin

It changes a little if we are out at all, but on a day where we are fully at home during school hours, the children largely work until their allocated work is done. Ideally they need to be started by 9:30 am but more often than not start earlier.  If that takes all day, then so be it.  If they get it done early then they can have that time to do what they like (no electronics that do not fall under the guise of education until after 3 pm).

There are also chores to be done by each child throughout the week.

Of course there are excursions and commitments that pop up to change this (and I am happy for it to change) but generally this is our week.

Monday- used to be an at home day, but lately has been taken up with radio/arts award.  If they are up early they do some work before we come out and then again after we get home (assuming it isn’t too late).  They have a lesser requirement of work on these days.

Tuesday- full days work and chores.  Josh and Kiyana off to Italian in the afternoon.  Kiyana for 1 hour 4-5pm and Joshua 4-6:45pm

Wednesday- full days work and chores.  Josh off to bible study in the evening (cycles).  Once a month we ‘may’ go to the Christian Home Ed Group.

Thursday- half days work and then off to swimming at 12:45.  Kids swim from 1:30-2:30 in organized lessons.

Friday- drama and french, then youth groups and roller blading (Jake) in the evenings.

I have made a huge effort this year to NOT be running around everywhere all the time.  We live a much slower (at home) life than we did in Sydney as I do it all by myself (something you would relate to).  Anthony is just not around during school/after school hours, so the only time I really have help is on a Friday evening or the weekend.  I simply can not be everywhere all at once, nor will I live my life as a hectic frazzled mummy any more.  While I most certainly do what I can, I just won’t do everything any more, I end up a depressed hassled mum and that is no good for anyone.

I could probably fit some more in at the moment, but there isn’t really anything, that anyone is asking to do.  Most home ed things happen during the day and I can’t really be out at night as I still have a three-year old.

I hope that helps a little to explain what we do.

Feel free to ask more questions.

x

Wer  eine Umlaut Domain per IP-Umleitung anlegen möchte muss bevor er diese im Kundenmenü Anlegt, von “IDN” zu “ACE” String umwandeln.

Beispiel: Ich möchte die domain http://www.säure.de anlegen. Diese Domain ist durch den Umlaut “ä” im format IDN .

Wenn ich diese nun anlegen möchte als säure.de bekomme ich eine Fehlermeldung bei vielen Anbietern.

 Was kann ich tun? Ich muss meine Domain von IDN in ACE umrechnen lassen dieses kann ich mit dem von der Denic dafür vorgesehenen Tool erledigen, zu finden

 Hier: http://www.denic.de/de/domains/allgemei … erung.html

dort gebe ich säure.de in das fenster als ACE ein. Ergebnis ich bekomme statt säure.de > xn--sure-loa.de Dieses kann ich nun wie gewohnt im Kundenmenü als Domain Eintragen.

Check it out and leave comments its a good tune.

Part of the YKIMS‏ music movement check out the track and leave comments

I’ve been playing the Madden series since I was 11 and I’ve had some incredible franchise seasons (more than 25 19-0 seasons I think), but my latest 2017 season was pretty ace.

None of my players are created players or modified in any way. I draft and trade for real and computer-generated players only and I also don’t manipulate games or seasons to break certain records. I play 5min, unaccelerated quarters on the All Madden level. 2017 was the year it all came together:

Boar Jackson ran for 414yds and 8 TDs in Superbowl 53.

Mario Martinez, my stud OLB had multiple single-game records in 2017

Mario has 285 sacks in 6 seasons and obliterates single sack records

By Alec Loorz, ACE Youth Leader and all around Climate Hero! Crossposted from ACE Blog

Last week I was in Washington DC to present our Declaration of Independence from Fossil Fuels to the group of Senators who are working hard to pass some laws that will help to slow down global warming emissions. Senator Barbara Boxer, the Chairman of the Committee, invited me to attend a reception to celebrate the passing of the Kerry-Boxer bill out of the Environment and Public Works Committee.

It was pretty awesome, if you think about it. There were like 50 or 60 people there, most of them from Environmental organizations who have supported this bill in one way or another. But there were also five Senators and a couple Cabinet representatives. Senator Boxer and three other senators gave statements and offered words of thanks and encouragement. Then, she introduced….me! This regular kid from California with a huge roll of butcher paper in his arms, filled with over 10,000 signatures from the last unrepresented segment of our society: people under the age of 18.

We can’t vote. We aren’t lobbyists. But our voices are too passionate to be ignored.

I wrote the Declaration of Independence from Fossil Fuels a year and a half ago. At first, it was just a simple way for kids to take action after my presentations.

But then, when we joined up with ACE, it became a national campaign. ACE educators and I are still collecting signatures after our assembly presentations.  Plus, there are videos online you can forward to your friends to collect signatures. So far, we have about 40,000, including all the online signatures, but we’re gonna keep going till we have at least 350,000 of them and get the Declaration recorded in the official minutes of the Congressional hearings. 350,000 seems like the right number, don’t you think? Invite all your friends to sign. This is our chance to be heard.

Our voices are probably the most important ones out there in this growing debate. They count for more because we are the ones who will be most affected by what does or does not happen over the next year. The Senators need to be brave and do what is right…even if it means they’ll look bad in the eyes of those who want to keep the status quo.

It’s getting nasty out there. We need to keep speaking up, keep doing projects that conserve the fossil fuel energy we have, and keep thinking of ways to do life differently in this new society we’re creating.

When I was talking to Senator Kerry last week, he told me they need the youth voice in the next couple months if we are going to pass this bill through the Senate. He challenged our generation to stand up, and get active in this fight. So who is ready to join me?

Photo by Dave
Location: Orlando, FL
Galahs: “Bandit”, “Ace” & “Bondi”

This picture is of Ace on his second day with us. Jason, his previous owner, said he hadn’t bathed in a couple days since being on the road and that he’d probably appreciate a bath. Luckily, Jason took amazing care of Ace before he came to us and so he has settled in really well with our flock already.

Day two he was bathing with Bandit and Bondi and he was able to fit easily into sharing an aviary with all our medium sized birds, including our grey, Cressi.

He already came eating the same pellets ours do, the organic Feed Your Flock parrot pellets. So nutrition has been another easy thing with Ace. He eats and tries everything we give him and is very anxious when in the kitchen and food preparation is going on.

Photo by Dave
Location: Orlando, FL
Galahs: “Bandit”

Because Jason did such a great job raising Ace, he has had a very smooth transition into our home. Yet another amazing reason to work and train with your bird. You never know when something might happen to you, and if it does, you need to be prepared and have something planned for your bird. And you don’t want that move to be traumatic.

Here are some things you can do with your bird that will help your relationship with him/her now and also make a smoothe transition into someone else’s home should something ever happen to you (something none of us want to think about but all of us should be prepared for):

1. Trick training: because Ace knows tricks already he doesn’t feel left out when we work with our birds too, in fact, he knows the cues and behaviors to do and has fun competing with the other birds.
2. A great diet: feed fresh foods even if your bird won’t touch them, do what you can to get them eaten by your bird and get your bird on a healthy organic pellet diet rather than the unhealthy colored ones.
3. Take your bird to meet new people and get social so it is willing to step up onto new people if you ask it to.
4. Get your bird used to travel cages and day trips so it travels easier.

]]> http://compassionloop.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/god-has-a-plan-by-tracy/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:30:09 +0000 Tracy Smith http://compassionloop.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/god-has-a-plan-by-tracy/

I am so excited to tell you about my amazing Saturday – I had the privilege of spending the day with some Advocates including Trevor Dick. We had a great time learning about opportunities, networking and being challenged. My heart was ministered to in such a beautiful way as Trevor shared his story and his God-given musical talent. Trevor’s challenge was to pray for God to open the eyes of our hearts, to find our God-given gift and to use it to honour Him! He has more in store for us that we can possibly imagine. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

If you haven’t had the opportunity to see Trevor perform – I highly encourage you to find a date in your area and go. He is gearing up for the 2009 Glory & Peace Christmas Tour which will see him in London, Guelph, Port Perry, Burlington, Belleville, Parry Sound, Sudbury, Ottawa and Kitchener. For specific date information visit – flyingbow.com. You won’t be disappointed.

To find out how Trevor may be able to perform in your church through our Advocate Church Engagement program, talk to your Advocate Representative.

Eccoci nuovamente in cartoonSpoiler con nuove puntata di One Piece in. Ad occuparsi dei nostri riassunti, Mario “Dr. House” Casa. Fate molta attenzione ai contenuti dei riassunti, perchè contengono ovviamente SPOILER.

ATTENZIONE SPOILER!!!

One Piece ep 422 “Infiltrazione a costo della vita!Impel Down,la prigione sottomarina”

La puntata inizia con un dialogo fra Garp e Ace,in cui il Viceammiraglio si rammarica del fatto che i nipoti siano divenuti dei pirati.

Ace gli dice che ciò era impossibile in quanto nelle loro vene scorre il sangue
di criminali di fama mondiale.
Nel frattempo la ciurma di Bagy fa rotta verso Impel Down con l’intenzione di liberare
il loro capitano, ma Albida fa comprendere loro che è impossibile evadere da quella
prigione.
Rufy e Hancock raggiungono infine Impel Down e qui viene fatta una perquisizione
all’imperatrice,la quale rischia di far scoprire il nascondiglio di Rufy.

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=O6N5XRS7

One Piece ep 423 “Riunione all’inferno!?Il possessore del frutto Puzzle Puzzle!”

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=DW6H9H8E

Per evitare la perquisizione Hancock pietrifica Domino e la Lumacamera in modo
di permettere a Rufy di uscire.
L’imperatrice sale poi su un ascensore diretto verso il Livello 4 dove incontrerà
il direttore della prigione,Magellan.
Rufy invece si infiltra al Lvl 1, dove è in atto un tentativo di fuga da parte
di Bagy il Clown.Fattosi scoprire incontra Rufy al quale rivela che Ace si trova al
Lvl 5.Per sfuggire ai Blugori i due formano un’alleanza e danno inizio ad un
vero putiferio.

One Piece ep 424 “Irruzione!L’inferno Cremisi – Il grande e vistoso piano di Bagy”

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=4MFFS9DD

Rufy abbatte facilmente i Blugori con enorme stupore di Bagy e di tutti i prigionieri.
Il clown racconta allora di come abbia conosciuto Ace e accetta di collaborare in cambio
del bracciale di Rufy.
I due raggiungono il primo livello di Impel Down,dove trovano una foresta di lame
taglienti.
Chiunque verrebbe ferito ma non Bagy, che grazie al suo potere Puzzle-Puzzle,
riesce ad attraversare la foresta fino ad una voragine enorme.
Rufy vi si getta subito diretto verso il Lvl 2 e Bagy invece vi ci precipita
a causa di un Blugori.
Sono diretti verso l’inferno delle Bestie Selvagge dove è prigioniero Mr.3.

One Piece ep 425 “L’uomo più forte della prigione!Entra in scena Magellan,l’uomo veleno”

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=KS6TSTWT

Rufy e Bagy atterrano al Lvl 2 dove si devono scontrare con i mostri presenti
su questo piano.
Dopo un primo momento di tranquillità vengono inseguiti da un basilisco e
Rufy è costretto a sconfiggerlo sfoderando il Gear Third.
Questo però mette in allarme i carcerieri,i quali riescono così ad identificare
il pirata che imperversa insieme a Bagy all’interno della prigione.
Intanto Hancock incontra Magellan,il direttore della prigione che ha mangiato il
frutto Venom-Venom,rendendolo un uomo veleno.
Per facilitarsi la fuga Bagy libera i prigionieri del piano confidando nel caos
che si sarebbe generato.I prigionieri però tornano quasi subito nelle loro celle
per paura del Boss del piano.
Rufy allora incontra Mr.3,il quale si offre di condurli verso il Lvl 3.
Intanto Sengoku apprende che Rufy si è infiltrato ad Impel Down,ma confida nell’impossibilità
di fuga dalla prigione.
Un unico uomo è riuscito a fuggire dalla prigione e il suo nome è Shiki il leone Dorato.

As promised, here is a list of all the current cats we have:

1. Babybun

2. Kat

3. Onyx

4. Clairvoyant

5. Dusty

6. Slinky

7. M-U

8. Tasuki (Taz)

9. Patches

10. Citrus

11. A.C.E. (Attack Cat Extraordinaire)

12. Lisa

13. Twilight (named before the books, thank you)

14. Eclipse

15. Socks

16. Naughty

17. Nice

18. Lump of Coal

19. Sneakers

20. Amelia Pickford

21. Bagheera

22. Tiger

Our 18-year old baby Sylvia passed away the summer of ‘09. :’( At least she was happy and curled up in a blanket by out sunny window when she passed on. She is now in kitty heaven!

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And what good would a blog be without pictures? Yes, you may officially call me a crazy old cat lady now…

1. Babybun

Babybun is my baby! I have had him since I was 7. My Gma even wrote him an ode…I may put that at the end of the post. We got Bunny from my stepbrother. He was keeping some cats at his apartment illegally and when they found out, they were evicted (the cats at least), so we took him!

2. Kat

How we got Kat and Onyx is an interesting story. The day their mother had them, she was hit by a car. We literally raised them from birth! Kat was the runt and Mom wasn’t sure he would make it through the night, but he did and now he is one of our biggest kitties!

3. Onyx

Kat’s sister. This picture is when she was just a baby! It is also my favorite stone and a character in a book I have been working on since 8th grade.

4. Clairvoyant

Claire is my cat from college. One night it was storming and my roommate, Jenn, and I heard a meowing in the night. We opened up our sliding glass door and in ran Claire. He just made himself at home and has been part of the family ever since!

5. Dusty

Dusty is also 18, she is my Grandma’s cat who lives with us! She’s very picky about what she eats and throws a fit if Kat or Onyx get in the room. She protests by going under the bed and pooping. Lovely…

6. Slinky

We got Slinky from one of my best friends, Sadie. She didn’t look like she was going to make it, but she is a healthy, beautiful kitten now!

Here is one of my besties, Sadie, who gave Slinky to me!

7. M-U

We got M-U from one of my little brother’s friends, Dustin. He was moving away with his mom and no longer allowed to keep her. So, of course, we took her in. She and Slinky are best friends.

Here is a picture of Jacob, my little brother.

8. Tasuki (Taz)

I named Taz back when I was into this anime/manga series, Fushigi Yuugi. He was one of the main characters on the show.

Here is a picture of Tasuki the character and Tasuki the cat…

9. Patches

Patches is the brother of another one of kitties we lost to a car accident. His name was Boots. Patches had kittens with Eclipse (Twilight, Sneakers and Socks). Socks was named after Patches brother, Boots, as they look identical!

10. Citrus

Citrus is Patches’ arch nemesis for whatever reason. We found him by a dumpster at Rick’s C-Store here at the Lake. Another little kid was trying to coo him into the car, but he ran. When I tried, he came right to me and curled up in my lap!

11. A.C.E. (Attack Cat Extraordinaire)

ACE is my Mom’s baby, she likes to “hold him like a baby”, where she curls him on his back and cradles him like a small child. The crazy thing? He loves it!

12. Lisa

Lisa came from my old friend Shelby. She plead her case to my mother…they were moving and her Mom was either going to just leave them there or take them to the pound. We couldn’t let that happen…so lovely Lisa became our own!

13. Twilight (named before the books, thank you)

Twilight is a sweet, slinky (and fast!) kitty. He is one of Eclipse’s sons.

14. Eclipse

Eclipse is the big mama of Socks, Sneakers, Twilight, Lump of Coal, Naughty and Nice. Then we got her spaid.

15. Socks

Socks came to us from Eclipse and Patches. He was named after Patches brother, Boots, who looks just like him! Boots is on the left, Socks is on the right. Our little Bootsie passed away when he was hit by a car. They didn’t even stop. :’(

16. Naughty

Naughty is one of Eclipse’s sons, he and the next two are more ‘garage’ cats and they are hard to snap pictures of! He is tiger striped like Patches.

17. Nice

Nice is one of Eclipse’s daughters. She is also tiger striped.

18. Lump of Coal

Coal is black and white, he got his coat from his mama, Eclipse.

19. Sneakers

Sneakers is Socks’ brother. He looks more like his papa, Patches.

20. Amelia Pickford
Amelia is the second cat that goes to college with me. She was born on April 20, 2009. She is one of the cutest kittens I have ever seen and poses in the most un-cat like poses I’ve ever seen! She also likes to climb into anything she can fit!

21. Bagheera

Named after the black panther from Disney’s The Jungle Book (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0xQ89pF5zo)

We recently got “Bags” from my friends Brady and Kaitlin.

22. Tiger

Tiger is another one of Eclipse’s. We haven’t been able to catch him yet, but he has the prettiest coat I have ever seen!

~*~

Well, this post was a few months in the making! Sorry gang, hope you weren’t hanging by a thread or anything.

Until next time,

-Christine

Reports from USA today have indicated a possible trade between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers that will send the Jays’ coveted ace Roy Halladay to the Dodgers for Chad Billingsley and several minor league prospects. This will solidify the Jays as a rebuilding team for the foreseeable future.

Roy Halladay has been the foundation of the Jays’ staff for nearly a decade and the trade will put an end to any hopes the team have at a playoff run in 2010. In 2009, Halladay had a 17-10 record, 9 complete games with a 2.79 era over 239.0 innings pitched.

If reports are accurate, Toronto will receive a very promising young right handed pitcher in Chad Billingsley. He posted a 12-11 record in 2009 with a 4.03 era and 179 strikeouts in 196.1 innings thrown. At 25, Billingsley has loads of potential throwing in the mid 90’s with a good curveball and great command.  However, he needs to work on his stamina and change-up if he wants to be a future ace.  With former pitching coach Brad Arnsberg now gone, the Jays will need to find the right person to mould Billingsley into a dominant Major League pitcher.

Since taking over the reins, Toronto’s rookie GM Alex Anthopolous has been playing his hand close to his chest with no public comments regarding possible trade scenarios involving Roy Halladay. Anthopolous is not ruling out attempting to resign Halladay to a long-term extension, especially if the Jays are competitive next season. However; with the trade winds seemingly swirling around the Blue Jays, it appears the likelihood that Halladay will be traded before the season starts is higher than many experts originally believed.

One of the most effective tennis serves you can hit is what is sometimes known as the “can opener”.

You see Federer and Nadal hit this serve a lot of the time.

This is when you slice the serve out wide and drag your opponent out of the tennis court.

It can often result in an ace or error but can also leave your opponent so far out of court that even if they do return the ball you have the whole court at your mercy to take advantage of.

But, so many people still struggle to hit it well.

Well, try this.

If you are a right hander hitting it from the deuce (right) court then just move your right foot to the right a touch (towards the right tramline) when you are setting up (I am obviously assuming your right foot is normally further from the right tramline than your left foot in your normal service stance).

This will line your body up more towards your target and make hitting that area by the opposite tramline sooooo much easier.

Note for all you leftys, just reverse the above instruction i.e. serve from the left etc.

For those of you worried about telegraphing the serve to the opponent – don’t worry.

If you are unable to hit the wide serve from the “normal” stance, you AND your opponent are unlikely to be at the level where reading and taking advantage of serves are a natural part of the game.

PLUS!!!

If you hit it well enough, it is still a difficult serve to deal with.

I saw Pete Sampras (who Federer copied) serve every ad serve (from the left) at the French Open, Roland Garros from wide out towards the tramline with kick.

Everybody knew where most of the serves were going but like I said earlier if you hit these wide serves well the worst that can happen is that you end up with an empty court to play into on the next shot.

He lost in the Semi-Finals!!

I also saw him serve nearly every serve in the Australian Open final against Thomas Muster (a lefty) as a can opener from the right (deuce) court.

He Won!!

Listen, it’s really important for right handers to have this serve against a lefty.

I say this because it seems that all leftys have this serve when they play us right handers……dammned leftys

Start working on it today!!

P.S. if you are a lefty and don’t have it as part of your service arsenal…………get it going

La Regione Piemonte ha messo in linea un sito web dedicato che consente di espletare on line molte operazioni relative alla certificazione energetica degli edifici.

Il mese scorso, come è noto, è infatti entrata in vigore la certificazione energetica degli edifici; per questo il Piemonte ha aperto questo link diretto al Sicee, il Sistema informativo per la certificazione energetica degli edifici, realizzato con il supporto di Csi-Piemonte, che gestisce l’elenco regionale dei soggetti abilitati al rilascio dell’Attestato di certificazione energetica (Ace).

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