4:00am - Parker woke up and was fussing.  I got him to calm down and then as I lay there trying to go back to sleep, I realized I should probably change his diaper.  So I got back up and changed his diaper.  And then I lay there thinking about how much home work I have due this weekend.  A 6-8 page paper on Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, a final and all of my other regular assignments.  So I got up.  I've been sitting here in the office doing the other assignments and trying to finish up the final (I'm on the 2nd to last essay question).  Sometimes i get up to do some laundry but every time I do that I go by the kitchen and see that it needs to be cleaned, the table needs to be cleaned the floor needs to be dust mopped, things need to be put up, everything needs to be dusted, and for some reason our fish tank is really cloudy?

I was trying to give my mind a break by playing around on Facebook when i realized the sun had come up and somehow it is almost 7:30!?  I've been awake for 3 hours and I haven't finished this stupid final.  And now all of the sudden I'm wondering what the heck I have been doing for 3 hours.  Did I pass out for 2 hours and not realize it?!  

Do I have the energy to go in for my 2 hours of tortue on Saturday?   It starts in 2 hours.  1 hour of spinning and then the 1 hour weights class.  can I just say that squats and lunges are almost impossible for me after an hour of spinning.  My legs are all rubbery and floppy and tired and she wants me to squat down - with weights?

I think Stewart just got up - and I hear Parker?

Alright - all you little busy bodies out there - can someone tell me how I am supposed to keep up with:

• 4 classes - I will be in 4 classes until December.  In December, I am taking a break from school.  I am not taking any class in December - unless something I need happens to start in December.  I was sitting here feeling guilty for taking a month off of school - I mean, crap.  I have been out of school since 1999.  It's 2009.  I was off for 10 years!  Why do I need a break?  But I have been taking classes back to back since last August.  I should look at my Academic Plan - but I think I have taken 40+ hours since then.  Ok.  i just counted.  I have taken 43 hours - and that doesn't count the 12 that I am in right now.  That's decent.  Maybe I have earned a month of school.  Anyway, my point is, how am I supposed to keep up with homework when I have so many other distractions.
•  TV!!!Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Dancing with the Stars.  There are other new temptations that I would like to watch but I can barely keep up with those 3.
• Stewart and his little busy body homework and cub scouts and more homework life.  I am sometimes really surprised at the amount of homework that he comes home with.  Sometimes the amount is managable and sometimes it takes every ounce of patience that I have to get through the worksheets with him.  And then it's time for spelling practice.  He is a rockstar speller- but he takes after his mom and dad and is mathmaticly challenged.  When he starts to get frustrated, he writes his numbers backwards.  Perfectly backwards.  I have to channel every single ounce of patience I have to help him through his homework - and I'm not the most patient person.
• This weekend I need to do all of my regular assignments PLUS a 6-8 page paper (it's my literature mid-term) and I need to complete my final for yet another class.  That's a lot of homework.  i have got a jumpstart on my final but i still need to do the essay questions.  I'm not sure how I am going to write 6-8 pages on a story that is only 6-8 pages long.  I chose to write it on satire, in A modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift.  6-8 pages is a lot.  I'm not sure if I can do it.  Plus i know Bill has his own homework and we have kids that want attention .  There is never enough time.  Ever.

Randomness:

• I really like soundtracks.  All kinds.  Favorites include The Little Mermaid, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, the Last Kiss, Garden State, Romeo + Juliet, Slumdog Millionaire.  I’m not sure why I like soundtracks soo much.  Probably because it’s a variety.  I’ve been listening to the Slumdog soundtrack a lot lately.  I don’t really think it’s the best “road trip” music but it’s great music.  Track #3 makes me feel like I’m in a Bourne movie, in a trademark Bourne chase scene.  I wonder if that excuse would work if I were to get pulled over for speeding.  “officer – it was the music!”
• 3^rd week of spelling words with Stewart.  He is very enthusiastic about practicing and he tries very hard to sound out the words and spell them on his own.  I made him a spelling practice notebook.  I think having a “special” notebook for practice makes it a little more exciting and reiterates the importance of spelling for him.  He is doing great.  Since this is the third week – I know he can spell at least 30 different words!
• Parker is an onery little booger.  I realized last night that he shuns his toddler spoons and forks.  He almost refuses to eat with them.  Last night he was refusing it and he kept grunting and pointing at a regular spoon.  So I gave it to him.  He hate a lot of macaroni and cheese.  Just another little Parker-ism on his track to independence and being a big boy.  It shouldn’t surprise me – and I guess it doesn’t.  He wants to do everything that we do.  If we get home and take our shoes off, he wants to take off his shoes.  If Bill and Stewart are upstairs watching TV with no shirts on – Parker doesn’t want to be wearing a shirt.  I wonder if it is just imitation or his desire to be grown up and he thinks that is what big kids do?
• Stewart is enrolled in an after school enrichment program that is offered by his elementary school.  I think it sounds great.  It is staffed by the teachers at his school, and he stays at his school.  They have a snack and a recreation period and they spend at least 30 min working on homework (with a focus on math and spelling.)  I will admit, Bill and I didn’t spend a lot of extra time helping him with school work outside of his homework last year.  This year, we are dedicating more time to homework and we do spelling words every day.  I can tell a difference.  I have learned in my classes (look at me busting out the knowledge!) that any parental involvement reinforces the importance of the subject in the mind of the child.  It increases their interest in the subject as well as encourages them to do well.  So we’ll see.  The project is funded by the US Department of education, so it’s free!  I do wonder if the school’s motive is to increase the standardized test scores – which I don’t necessarily agree with (more stuff I’ve leared in my classes about standardized testing being an unfair way to assess children) but I think the benefit of Stewart having extra one on one time will be really good for him.
• I guess we aren’t going to the U2 concert.  Bill’s trip to India is causing him to miss several nights of class – and he doesn’t have another absence he can use for the concert.  So I’ve been thinking about trying to sell them – which is kindeve a hassle.  And then I’ve realized that I really want to go, still.  U2 is very much a Bill and I thing (we quoted a song lyric on our wedding announcement and it seems like the only music that we both like) but I am over the disappointment of not going WITH him – but I still want to go.  It’s like a thing – Men wished they could have seen Jordan play basketball live.  U2 is a concert that I would like to go to.  I have been to a grand total of 3 concerts my whole entire life and this is just one that I really want to go to.  The last time U2 was in the area I kicked myself for not getting tickets and going – and now I have tickets.  I have them.  Sitting in our office on the desk.  I periodicly go on there to make sure the tickets are still there.  I’m conflicted.  Should I go with a friend or just not go because Bill can’t go?
• Bank of America and Direct TV are on my shit list.  Permanently.  If it wouldn’t be such a hassle, I would ditch Bank of America yesterday.  Back in JUNE DirectTV hit up my checking account for $800 for the equipment they said I hadn’t returned yet.  I was waiting for them to send me the boxes to return the equipment.  Coincidentally, the day they charged my checking out was the day the boxes showed up.  I disputed the charge with Bank of America and had to call up mom and dad to loan me some money.  So now – it’s the middle of September and it is still in dispute.  Initially BofA did issued a temporary credit while they investigated the charge but they have since reversed it (which I feared they would do) and I escalated the dispute and now BofA has I guess finished researching it, said they can’t find any error in my part so now they pushed it over to Direct TV’s bank.  KEEP IN MIND, Direct TV has the equipment.  It has been received.  Can’t they just cancel this out?  So now I’m waiting for Direct TV’s bank to make a judgement (I guess?)  It’s irritating.  We quit direct TV in MAY – May 21^st to be exact.  It’s September 18^th – and I’m still trying to argue over this charge – that will be credited because they have the equipment.  Ridiculous.
• Bill hit a deer last night on the way home.  He should really post the blog about this – he was driving.  I wasn’t even in the car.  It was inevitable.  One of us was going to hit a deer.  At one point, I asked him what I was supposed to do if I ever hit one – just because I knew it was going to happen.  Last night – less than a mile from our house – going 40mph a deer jumped out in front of him.  Bill said he didn’t even have a chance to break.  Slammed into the deer and Bambi died.  Surprisingly Bill and the truck are fine.  There doesn’t appear to be any damage on the truck – the bumper is a little furry and his vanity plate was bent in – but that’s it.  Lucky.  Lucky he wasn’t driving my car.  Lucky we haven’t traded in my car for a Prius, or a TDI Jetta, or the TDI A3.  Lucky he was in his big behmoth of a truck that sits so high, the deer hit the bumper.  And the bumper popped back out once he took off the bent vanity plate.  Too bad we don’t eat venison.  (KIDDING, I refuse to eat ROADKILL!)

(pics will be coming soon.)

Stewart lost his first tooth today.  It was one of the bottom center teeth.  His two bottom teeth (the adult teeth) are in almost 100% - he's like a shark.  He has 2 rows of teeth!

So we'll have to see what the little Miss Tooth Fairy brings tonight.  A little birdie told me she has some Nintendo DS games in her fairy bag!

My friend shared it with me and now I'm sharing it with you.  Since I'm probably the only one that likes Hello Kitty here - you won't care. But how cute is this!  This is the perfect little computer for a 7 year old girl.  I love it!  Hell, this is the perfect little computer for a 30 year old woman.  There!  I said it!

Moneual's MiNEW A10 nettop gets preciously attacked by Hello Kitty

by Darren Murph posted Sep 16th 2009 at 9:43AM

You remember Moneual, right? You know -- the guys and gals playing a torrented movie on their demo unit at a trade show. Now that we're on the same page, have a look at the show-stopper above. That's the Hello Kitty-embellished MiNEW A10, or in other words, the most outrageous nettop to ever see the light of day. The wildest part is that existing A10 owners can even make their relatively sane looking machine morph into cuteness overload for the tidy sum of ₩150,000 ($123). Or you can just get a whole new rig that no one else has to know about for ₩540,000 ($443) -- totally your call there. One more frightening look is after the break.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/moneuals-minew-a10-nettop-gets-preciously-attacked-by-hello-kit/

Jeeez.  I get up in the morning and I like a nice hot shower.  It's relaxing.  I get home from the gym and I like to take a nice cool relaxing shower.  If I'm feeling sick and under the weather, a hot steamy eucalyptus shower always makes me feel better.  But now, all I'm going to think about are the millions of little nasty bacterias that I am inhaling.  I will wonder if that little annoying sniffle is because of my love of showers. 

Dangerous Pathogens Live in Showerheads

Sept. 14, 2009 -- It's warm and damp and dark -- the perfect place for bacteria to nestle and stay for a while.

It turns out that that's just what they do -- in your showerhead.

What's more, says a new study, the mucky film of microorganisms lining the inside of your showerhead often harbors bacteria that can cause lung disease, including a cough, fever, fatigue and weight loss.

These mycobacteria -- close relatives of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis -- can be more than 100 times more prevalent in showerheads than in the water in the pipes just upstream, a research team found.

Infections with such non-tuberculosis mycobacteria have risen in recent years, up six fold since 1997, according to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The bacteria don't threaten healthy people, but those with cystic fibrosis, AIDS, recent organ transplants or other immune-compromising conditions are at risk of an infection.

"There's been a growing voice in the medical field hypothesizing that showering has caused some of this increase," said the study's lead author, Leah Feazel of the University of Colorado, Boulder. "One hundred years ago, people bathed, they didn't shower."

The problem is not just that the microorganisms are enriched in the showerhead, Feazel said. It's also that the spray nozzle creates a fine mist of tiny water droplets. "These tiny, tiny particles can go all the way into your deep lungs," she said.

"Most of us are in the shower long enough to inhale a fairly reasonable amount of mycobacteria," Joe Falkinham of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg told Discovery News.

Feazel and colleagues isolated and sequenced DNA from showerheads and compared the findings with a database of DNA sequences to determine what organisms were living in the showerhead.

The study considered 45 different sites in nine U.S. cities, sampling several sites repeatedly to get a feeling for how microbial communities changed over time.

"The results showed that there's a very complex community inside most shower heads," Feazel said. "There are lots of different species. One of those is Mycobacterium avium, which causes pulmonary disease in people who are immune compromised."

Mycobacteria have a waxy exterior that makes them prone to stick to surfaces and join mats of microorganisms known as biofilms. Even the small amount of organic matter remaining in water supplies is enough to feed these organisms.

If you are scrubbing out your showerhead already, put the sponge down.

Disinfecting the showerhead might make things worse, the researchers found. They tried cleaning one showerhead with bleach and found that it carried even more mycobacteria after the cleaning than before. "Mycobacteria are known to be very chlorine resistant," Feazel said. "By using bleach, we probably killed everything else."

The researchers recommend that those people who are at risk of infection take baths instead of showering. Metal showerheads appear to foster less growth than plastic showerheads, although many showerheads that look metallic are actually plastic. Another option is to buy a cheap showerhead and change it every few months Feazel said.

It's also a good idea to open the window while you shower, Falkinham said, and to keep your water heater above 130 degrees, which he acknowledges runs counter to energy-saving advice to turn the heat down.

"Once you're infected with mycobacteria, you're always infected," he said. "The drug therapy requires multiple drugs. If a patient can tolerate the drugs, they'll get rid of the disease symptoms. They'll never get rid of the organisms."

Unlike tuberculosis, these mycobacteria are not transmitted from person to person.

While it might make us feel a little dirty to know what is lurking at the very source of our washing up, the presence of these microbes is better than skipping the chlorine treatment in our water systems, Falkinham notes.

"These are normal inhabitants that, as we have cleaned up our environment, now find a niche in which to grow," he said, "but it's a lot better than having a water system that has shigella or salmonella or one of the real pathogens.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/09/14/showerhead-pathogens.html

Alright - I'm always saying that I don't buy into the whole Global Warming effort.  I think it's trendy and something that a marketing genuis came up with to sell more products.  We do recycle and it's not like we go out of our way to not care - but I don't go out of my way to be extra green.  However, if my Stella starts tasting bad - I may re-visit my thoughts on the subject.

We are beginning to see the effects of the wholesale abuse of our planet first-hand. We all know the polar ice caps are melting, that huge landmasses are turning into dust bowls and various species of animals are popping out of existence, but the general response to this slow-moving train wreck of an ecological disaster is all too often: "So? What can we do about it? Besides, it's not hurting me."

http://blogs.discovery.com/space_disco/2009/09/now-we-have-a-problem-global-warming-is-impacting-beer-production.html