Video comes straight from UNICEF, I couldn’t find a video from the 20/20 Interview. This is good stuff though, so please watch.
I’m almost speechless. She has really grown up, and is making a difference in this world. It was really poignant to see her interacting with these poor Jamaican kids, you could tell that they touched her heart. She recently wrote a book about a girl “Ana” that talks about her life in Latin America with HIV. She worked as an intern with UNICEF working with these kids. I’m so glad to see some real positive press about her.
Amazon Review
First Daughter Jenna Bush worked as an intern with UNICEF throughout Latin America, and in her first book, she focuses on the life of a young woman she befriended during her travels. Infected with HIV/AIDS at birth, Ana loses both parents to the disease. After suffering abuse at relatives’ homes, she finds a caring center for those living with HIV/AIDS, where she falls in love and eventually gets pregnant. Her child is born without the virus, and at the story’s close, Ana has found a peaceful home where she can plan a new life for herself and her baby. The pace is brisk: chapters are only a few pages long, and the accessible language and simple sentences will pull reluctant readers. A few jarring passages point to Bush’s outsider’s view (a comparison between Ana and “the exotic subjects in Gaugin’s Tahiti paintings” stands out), but the wrenching story, illustrated with a few photos, effectively sends an urgent message: too many children are unsafe and burdened by secrets. Classroom-ready resources include discussion questions and suggestions for volunteering. Engberg, Gillian
Someone apparently either is too cheap to take a crap, or they’re up to no good. Either way, Government officials in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin are on the lookout for the “toilet paper thief”…I guess the only advice for those of you needing to use the loo there is BYOP (Bring Your Own Paper).
This one courtesy of CNN comes to us from the cheese state of Wisconsin…The nickname of the state fits the criminal quite well I might add in that he or she is definitely cheesy:
FOND DU LAC, Wisconsin (AP) — Someone is either too cheap to buy his own toilet paper or planning a big prank.
Fond du Lac County Executive Allen Buechel said someone has been repeatedly stealing toilet paper from the men’s public bathrooms at the Fond du Lac City County Government Center since June.
Buechel suspects the person comes in once or twice a week around midday and gets about six rolls a week from dispensers. Some rolls weren’t even full, he said.
The thefts haven’t been a big loss.
“We don’t buy the best toilet paper,” Buechel said.
He expects the thief to get caught. “Someone is going to walk in on him when he’s doing it and we’ll catch him,” he said.
Courthouse officials are on the lookout for suspicious activity.
County sheriff Capt. Dean Will didn’t return a call for comment Friday.
P.S. I never thought I’d ever have to create a category for Toilet Paper, this is definitely a reason to “LOL”.
This is one of those “only in Michigan” things. While it’s definitely wrong, and theft you have to admit that it is a bit funny. For those of you not from Michigan or familiar, Michigan has a $0.10 bottle/can deposit on all their soda/beer bottles/cans. In the Seinfeld episode it showed the characters of Seinfeld taking all these NY cans to MI to get deposit money from them.
Here’s the story:
Authorities: Smuggling Rings Defrauded Mich. Bottle Deposit Fund
DETROIT – Authorities said they arrested 13 people and seized more than $500,000 in cash after breaking up a smuggling ring that collected millions of beverage containers in other states and cashed them in for 10 cents apiece in Michigan.
A total of 15 people were named in a 67-count warrant issued as part of Operation Can Scam, Attorney General Mike Cox said Wednesday. Some suspects were members of two smuggling rings based in Ohio and others were Michigan merchants who took part in the scheme, he said.
Investigators alleged that millions of non-redeemable out-of-state cans were collected, crushed, packaged in plastic bags and sold at a discount to merchants who then redeemed them. Bulk redemption payments from the state are based on weight.
The scheme defrauded the Michigan Bottle Deposit Fund, whose proceeds are used to pay for environmental cleanup efforts, Cox said in a statement.
“Each year, this type of activity defrauds the state approximately $13 million,” said Col. Peter Munoz, Michigan State Police director.
The charges include maintaining a continuing criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony, and fraud, a 5-year felony, the statement said.
The probe recalled a 1996 episode of “Seinfeld” in which two characters learn about Michigan’s 10-cent deposit law and head there with a truckload of 5-cent New York cans, hoping to cash in on the difference, before getting sidetracked.
“A half-million in cash is not ‘Seinfeld’ humor,” Cox spokesman Matt Frendewey said.
To all of you Moms out there I want to know your morning routines. I especially want to hear from you Moms who have three or more kids. I’ve been struggling to get on a really good routine in the morning. I know that a good morning starts with a good nights rest which I haven’t been getting very much lately, which I’ll admit is self-inflicted more than half the time…
Moving on, if you’ll please post some of your ideas as to how to achieve a peaceful/non-stressed/non-rushed (this MUST be possible people 
) morning I’d love to hear them from you. Feel free to send either text, audio, or video comments. I can’t wait to hear from you!
A friend of mine passed this along in an email today, and I wanted to share…
“I’m Invisible”
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” Obviously not. No one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I’m invisible.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?
Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask. “What time is it?” I’m a satellite guide to answer, “What number is the Disney Channel?” I’m a car to order, “Right around 5:30, please.”
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . ; Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, “I brought you this.” It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn’t exactly sure why she had given it to me until I read the inscription: “To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.”
In th e days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eye of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.” And the workman replied, “Because God sees.”
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.”
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, “My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, “You’re gonna love it there.”
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
It’s kind of funny, I first heard this song when Hillary Clinton was asking for votes on what would be her campaign theme song. When it was determined to be this one, I probably heard it off of her website about a million times because I just loved it so much. Not to say I’m in love with her, or her political agenda, but I can promote good music when I see it.
Anyway, without further adieu here’s Celine Dion’s You and I courtesy of YouTube.
Randy Pausch delivers the lecture of a lifetime.
I found this surfing ABC News.com. What an inspirational story. Click the link, and enjoy a very touching message.
I’ve just loved going through YouTube and finding old videos of Mort Crim doing the news on WDIV/TV4 from when he was Chief Anchor for the station.
I’d have to say that this is my theme song for my kids. I don’t know how you’d describe the love for your children, but for me I’d have to say that I love them so much that it hurts. Sometimes I can sit and look at my 5 yr old sleeping away and just cry because the love I have for him (and his siblings is so intense that it overcomes me). I don’t cry about much in my life, if you ask anyone who knows me they’ll tell you that I’m a very strong person. I handle pain better than most men. I just have that ability. But, this is the one area in my life where I’m about as weepy as they come. It’s good though, because with all the stress that goes on in my life I need an outlet somewhere.
To My Biggest Heroes Ever, My Children:
I’m a huge animal lover, so these types of stories always just warm my heart. In future posts I’ll show off my sweeties.
From: Smoky the cat found more than 3 months after Wisconsin tornado
.
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (AP) — More than three months after disappearing during a tornado, Smoky the cat has been reunited with his owner.
Smoky was last seen June 7, before a tornado destroyed Wanda Ploeger’s mobile home in rural Riverview, Wisconsin, scattering her belongings.
Ploeger was at work that evening and couldn’t find her kitty when she returned.
Ploeger, who has been staying with her ex-husband, said she knew Smoky was out there somewhere. She’d go out late at night to look for Smoky because that’s when he liked to go out, she said.
“I kept telling my sister I never got a feeling about him,” she said. “With other animals I’d always get a feeling. … I always thought he’d come back.”
And he did.
While driving about 21/2 miles from where her trailer used to be on September 15, Ploeger saw a white streak and asked the driver to stop the truck along the highway.
The cat had gone over the hill so she crouched on the hill and called until it came to her.
Smoky dropped about three pounds and is now seven pounds. He also is taking antibiotics for an abscess, which he might have suffered while fighting, Ploeger said.
Ploeger said she plans to buy another mobile home and put it in the same place.
“It wouldn’t be the same without him here,” she said.
Since I’m not well enough to attend church today, I decided to find something uplifting and this is what I found. With a title like “How to Live Well amid Increasing Evil”, I’m sure you’re asking how can that be uplifting. But, read on and you’ll see how.
From Richard G. Scott, “How to Live Well amid Increasing Evil,” Liahona, May 2004, 100–102
As you continue to center your mind and heart in [the Lord], He will help you have a rich and full life no matter what happens in the world around you.
— Richard G. ScottExcellent suggestions to combat the deteriorating world environment have been given in this conference. As a prophet of God, President Gordon B. Hinckley put world conditions and our opportunities into crystal clear perspective. Two of his recent comments to priesthood and auxiliary leaders illustrate that prophetic vision. First, regarding the challenge we face:
“The traditional family is under heavy attack. I do not know that things were worse in the times of Sodom and Gomorrah. … We see similar conditions today. They prevail all across the world. I think our Father must weep as He looks down upon His wayward sons and daughters.” 1
Now concerning our extraordinary opportunities:
“Who in the earlier days could have dreamed of this season of opportunity in which we live? … The Church is in wonderful condition. … It will grow and strengthen. … It is our opportunity and our challenge to continue in this great undertaking, the future of which we can scarcely imagine.” 2
You have a choice. You can wring your hands and be consumed with concern for the future or choose to use the counsel the Lord has given to live with peace and happiness in a world awash with evil. If you choose to concentrate on the dark side, this is what you will see. Much of the world is being engulfed in a rising river of degenerate filth, with the abandonment of virtue, righteousness, personal integrity, traditional marriage, and family life. Sodom and Gomorrah was the epitome of unholy life in the Old Testament. It was isolated then; now that condition is spread over the world. Satan skillfully manipulates the power of all types of media and communication. His success has greatly increased the extent and availability of such degrading and destructive influences worldwide. In the past some effort was required to seek out such evil. Now it saturates significant portions of virtually every corner of the world. We cannot dry up the mounting river of evil influences, for they result from the exercise of moral agency divinely granted by our Father. But we can and must, with clarity, warn of the consequences of getting close to its enticing, destructive current.
Now the brighter side. Despite pockets of evil, the world overall is majestically beautiful, filled with many good and sincere people. God has provided a way to live in this world and not be contaminated by the degrading pressures evil agents spread throughout it. You can live a virtuous, productive, righteous life by following the plan of protection created by your Father in Heaven: His plan of happiness. It is contained in the scriptures and in the inspired declarations of His prophets. He clothed your intelligence with spirit and made it possible for you to enjoy the wonder of a physical body. When you use that body in the way He has decreed, you will grow in strength and capacity, avoid transgression, and be abundantly blessed.
When God, our Eternal Father, and His Beloved Son appeared to Joseph Smith in that sublime vision in the Sacred Grove, They began to place on earth again that plan of happiness and all required to sustain it. Part of that restoration included additional sacred scriptures to complement the treasured record of the Bible. These precious scriptures are contained in the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Our Father knew of our day. He prepared the scriptures and provided continuing divine guidance to sustain us. That help will assure that you can live with peace and happiness amid increasing evil.
Consider these verses:
Read the rest of this entry »
I hope this Sunday finds you well. Unfortunately, well does not become me today. I’ve been fighting sinus problems for over a week now, and the stuff decided to make it’s journey down into my lungs. So, it’s made sleep anything but restful. This is the first Sunday in a month where I will not go to church. After a period of a long inactivity, I went back four weeks ago so I’m a little sad that I won’t be there. But, I just have to keep the faith, and realize that I will get better.
Since it is Sunday though, I figured I’d share a few lyrics/songs with you.
Here’s a video compilation of the song “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer”.
Words:
LDS Hymns #26
Oh, how lovely was the morning!
Radiant beamed the sun above.
Bees were humming, sweet birds singing.
Music ringing thru the grove.
When within the shady woodland.
Joseph sought the God of love.
When within the shady woodland.
Joseph sought the God of love.
Humbly kneeling, sweet appealing.
Twas the boy’s first uttered prayer.
When the pow’rs of sin assailing.
Filled his soul with deep despair.
But undaunted still he trusted.
In his Heav’nly Father’s care.
But undaunted still he trusted.
In his Heav’nly Father’s care.
Suddenly a light descended.
Brighter far than noon-day sun.
And a shining glorious piller
O’er him fell around him shone.
While appeared two heav’nly beings
God the Father and the Son,
While appeared two heav’nly beings
God the Father and the Son
Joseph this is my Beloved
Hear him! Oh, how sweet the word.
Joseph’s humble prayer was answered,
And he listened to the Lord.
Oh, what rapture filled his bosom,
For he saw the living God;
Oh, what rapture filled his bosom,
For he saw the living God
This is probably my favorite hymn of all time, click it below to hear it from the embedded player:
Earlier this week I posted a story that MSNBC did on Teacher Crushes and their innocence and how they actually inspire students to do well. After the story was published they received letters from people describing their individual “crushes” and here are a few of them. I thought that they were all very good.
In biology class, we had a student teacher come in for a semester. My grade went from a D+ to a B+ in a matter of weeks. I didn’t want her to think I was dumb. I am pretty sure she had no idea. After all that time of my parents telling me if I applied myself I could do it, imagine that — they were right.
— Chip, Kalamazoo, Mich.
In the 7th grade, in Jacksonville, N.C. in 1966. He was, first of all, the first male teacher I had ever had, and he was gorgeous! Tall, dark and handsome. Prior to that year I was always getting into trouble for talking too much. In his class, I hung onto every word he said. My grades went up that year! I certainly didn’t want him to think I was stupid, as if it would matter! It was innocent, it was lovely, it is a very sweet memory. I’m sorry in today’s world we have to be so cautious of our children and they can’t enjoy the innocence of a teacher crush.
— Debi, Greensboro, N.C.
In high school I had Mr. V for AP history. So smart which I found sexy (and easy on the eyes). I did more work in his class than any other. Plus I loved the class and had to work twice as hard because everyone was so smart. He wrote very positive and encouraging words on my very lengthy assignments. I did well because I wanted too impress him. I still have some of those old assignments in my yearbooks. He inspired me as a teacher as well. Last year I taught a global studies class and loved it! He was a result of that.
— Pamela
Click on over to MSNBC for more letters.
A week or so ago I saw this video on GAC after my kids got out of school. Each of them were just glued to the video, it’s really a cool one. I’m a very sentimental person. I get teary eyed when I watch stuff like this. This one was the latest in a series of songs that have really caught me emotionally in the past ten years or so.
Are you like me, and get choked up when you see stuff like this? Or is it just a song, and doesn’t faze you? Respond in the comments section.