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September 30, 2005
5 Things
I've been tagged by Lisa.
TEN YEARS AGO...
Eric and I had been married about 3 months. We were living in DC. I was working for United Cerebral Palsy and Eric was working for the National Endowment for the Arts. We had been in DC for a couple of years and we were starting to become very sick of it. It was about this time that we decided that we would quit our jobs and started looking into becoming English teachers in Japan.
FIVE YEARS AGO...
Henry had just turned one and I was about 5 months pregnant with Theo. Eric was in his last semester of pre-dental classes and was traveling around the country interviewing at different dental schools.
ONE YEAR AGO...
Henry just had his 5th birthday and we had a bowling party at Ron's. Theo had just started preschool and Iris was about 14 months. We were gearing up for yet another move because our current landlord had put the property up for sale. (The second time in less than a year!) Sadly we knew it would be our last year in Boston and we were making an effort to do our favorite things. This time last year we went to Family Fire Safety Day at the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy and to the Pumpkin Patch at Verrill Farm.
YESTERDAY...
Henry turned 6 yesterday. (I can't believe it!) We got up early so he could open up his presents before his dad left for school. The boys had a Spanish class in the morning and swim lessons in the afternoon. We went to Applebee's (Henry's choice) for dinner and then came home and had ice cream cake. We let the boys stay up until 10 because they were having so much fun playing with Henry's new lego set. We are going to top off the birthday celebration with a day at Seaworld tomorrow.
5 SONGS I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO...
Well, I'm the kind of person that can hear a song a few times and remember the words quickly. I would have to say that I probably know the words to more songs than I can count because we have music playing pretty much all day.
5 SNACKS ...
PB&J on rice cakes
iced coffee
cottage cheese
whatever fruit is in season
trail mix
5 THINGS I'D DO WITH $100 MILLION...
Buy a single family house on Mendum Street in Roslindale. One on the side that backs up onto the Arboretum. It's only a few blocks from a great coffee house and the commuter rail to downtown Boston.
Pay off all of Eric's school loans (oh, so many!)
Set up our retirement fund
Set up college/trust funds for our children
Start some sort of foundation- maybe arts
5 PLACES I'D RUN AWAY TO...
Boston
New York
San Francisco
Fukiya, Yamaguchi, Japan
I can't think of a 5th
5 THINGS I'D NEVER WEAR...
(my list is almost the same as Lisa's)
thong underwear
a rude or crude t-shirt (at least not in public- I have a pretty good anti-Bush one)
an itsy-bitsy bikini
stiletto heels
a fur coat
5 BOOKS/TV SHOWS I LOVE
The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto.
The Politics of Breastfeeding by Gabrielle Palmer
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
5 GREATEST JOYS...
my children
my husband
being a La Leche League Leader
going on fun day trips with my family
good ice cream
5 FAVORITE TOYS...
iPod
treadmill
digital camera
pc
legos- the whole family can sit down together for hours and build
5 PEOPLE I'M TAGGING TO PLAY...
I'm not going to tag anyone specifically because I think I may be one the last to play this one. If you want to play just consider yourself tagged by me.
Posted by Julee at 02:05 PM | Comments (1)
Friday Random 10
Shuffle Those MP3s
1. Don't Think You Wanna - Sleater-Kinney
2. Superstarr - MC Solaar
3. My Art - Le Tigre
4. Dolphin - Poe
5. Hem of your Garment - Cake
6. Sweet Heart Fever - Scout Niblett
7. President of What - Death Cab for Cutie
8. Healthy Sick - Bettie Seveert
9. Coming Clean - Green Day
10. Lazarwalker - Delgados
I was going to play using both mine and Eric's music on iTunes, but all of these really awful rap songs kept coming up. I don't know how he listens to that!
Posted by Julee at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2005
Taking A Break
I'm kind of busy with some stuff going on here and I have some family visiting. So I'm going to take a break from this for a week or two.
Take Care!
Posted by Julee at 07:52 PM | Comments (1)
September 21, 2005
Rich and Powerful
While dressed up in this outfit, including his way-too-small snowboots. Henry asked me if he looked rich and powerful?
(His name tag says General Henry)
I said, "Rich and powerful? Where did you hear that?"
He claimed that he made the phrase up by himself.
After putting some thought into it, I think it comes from The Sound of Music which we watched a few days ago.
Posted by Julee at 05:37 PM | Comments (5)
A Picture for Today
She is in a very serious mood.
Posted by Julee at 01:33 PM | Comments (1)
Links
Have you ever thought about digging a hole to China? Apparently if I dug a hole in my backyard I would end up in the Indian Ocean about halfway between Madagascar and Australia. Where would you end up?
If I Dig a Very Deep Hole...
Another video, but it's funny:
Stop Emo Haircuts
Posted by Julee at 01:28 PM | Comments (3)
September 16, 2005
Stuff Portrait Friday
I decided to play along with the Random and Odd's Stuff Portrait Friday:
My Kitchen:
Unfortunately for us, we tend to be the type of people who let clutter accumulate on just about every flat surface in our home. I have tried to fight this for years but it's a losing battle. I just need to give up and accept that is who we are.
This the most important part of my kitchen.
My Handwriting:
Something Random:
Everytime we go on a trip I try to remember to buy a magnet.
Posted by Julee at 11:42 AM | Comments (9)
Friday Random 10
Shuffle Those MP3s
1. Big Business in Europe - Delgados
2. 3 the Hard Way - Beastie Boys
3. Four Corners - Sea and Cake
4. Bathwater - No Doubt
5. I'll Only Sleep - Swearing at Motorists
6. I Cry - Lamb
7. Ocean Size - Jane's Addiction
8. Korega Watashino Ikiru Michi - Puffy AmiYumi
9. So Stark - Pavement
10. My Minds Eye - The Muffs
Posted by Julee at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2005
Unicorns L.A.
I think this is what happens to those who take Dungeons and Dragons a little too seriously. You may get bored in the middle, but hang in there and watch the whole thing. There are some pretty sweet dance moves at the end. But I also must warn you: the tune is pretty catchy.
(This is not my image, but at least I'm not hotlinking it )
Posted by Julee at 08:42 PM | Comments (2)
September 08, 2005
A Glimpse at Volunteering for the Evacuees
A few of the women on one of my Yahoo homeschooling groups are directly involved with coordinating volunteering efforts at the various shelters around town. Emails have been bouncing around continuously about what is needed in terms of supplies and manpower. With the three kids and Eric's long hours, neither of us have been able to go and help out, but it's very interesting to read about the reality of the events at the shelters.
I received this email this morning...
(Apparently the orientation to which she is referring is only a five minute safety talk)
Thank you so much to those of you who have contributed needed items or have helped to spread the word to others!
I finally have the chance to send out an update about the needs at the San Antonio shelters. I have been put in charge of distribution of clothes and toiletries for the Building 1536 shelter at Kelly. I am working closely with the clothing and toiletry coordinator for all of the shelters. We are having a hard time getting the word out on a large scale about the things that we need. The news stations are not getting accurate information. Some of these needed items are trickling in, thanks to those of you who have helped to spread the word, but we need more assistance!
We still need volunteers! There are many people scheduled, but not nearly enough, and many who are scheduled are not showing up. We have been told that the Red Cross is working to correct this, but I have seen no results yet. We need approximately 30 volunteers minimum at any time throughout the day *just in our distribution area* in order to be meeting the basic needs of the residents of the shelter. We have to unpack and sort all of the items coming in to us (a monumental task by itself!), stock them in the "store", assist shelter residents in finding what they need, and transport items to the sick and elderly who are unable to come find them for themselves. This becomes a more difficult task as they have placed our distribution center on the far end of the building, which is a good half a mile from the front of the building where the most sick and elderly are in the infirmary. We don't have enough volunteers to be finding those in need and bringing them what they need.
The process for volunteering is being made stricter for safety reasons. If you want to volunteer with the Red Cross, you will have to go to Freeman Colliseum to fill out a form and attend a brief orientation. All volunteers must now wear a red or white shirt to work in the shelters. We *may* not have to send volunteers who wish to work in the "store" to that orientation. We have been told that we may train our own group of volunteers so that we can get people in with the least hassle for this necessary task. If you are interested in volunteering, please let me know so that I can update you with information about the procedure.
We are having a hard time getting all of the supplies in that are needed. Neither the Salvation Army nor the Red Cross seem to be able to move quickly to receive the things we need- they have to fight a lot of red tape. Also, no matter how hard we try to get the list of needed items out on the news, it doesn't seem to be happening.
Here is the updated list of items that we need immediately:
- clean pillows
- clean blankets
- African-American hair care products
- hair brushes
- eyeglasses repair kits
- backpacks, totebags, suitcases, bags of any variety
- Mens and womens LARGE shoes- above 9 for ladies, above 8 for men -particularly tennis shoes, flip flops, sandals
- athletic shorts for all sizes (no privacy, so comfortable to sleep in)
- men's pants and shorts, sizes 28-38
- men's underwear sizes 28-38
- men's plain undershirts (t-shirts or a-shirts) sizes small - 2XL
- belts (all sizes)
- women's plus sized underwear and bras
- robes
- pajamas of all sizes
- house shoes and slippers
- toddler boy underwear
- adolescent boys and girls socks (between toddler and adults sizes)
- deoderent
- liquid soaps (NO BAR SOAPS!)
- baby powder
- vaseline, petroleum jelly
- shaving cream
- mouthwash
- denture care items (cup, cleaning products, adhesive products, etc.)
- any products with fragrance- perfume, cologne, scented lotion, etc.
As of yet, there is no laundry system in place in the shelter, and so to avoid the risk of spreading disease, dirty clothes and linens are being thrown away. This means that these items will be needed repeatedly for some time.
We have plenty of children's clothing and toys, diapers and the like. We have to sort through everything that comes in, so please try to limit donations to the items that we specifically need right now. We just don't have the manpower to sort through to find the things we need. I know that the news stations have said not to take donations directly to the shelters, and if you do show up, some people are being turned away by the Salvation Army even when they have needed donations! There is a real lack of communication issue. To ensure that we receive them, these items can come straight to us in the store at Bldg. 1536 through Loading Dock 9. If you would rather, you can contact me so that I can take the needed items exactly where they need to go.
Please do what you can to spread word of mouth about these needs! These poor people are sitting there without having their basic needs met because of a lack of communication between organizations. I'm personally having to turn people away and tell them that I don't have any pants of underwear in their size, or that I don't have any pillows to give them and no clean blankets, so they'll just have to make do a little longer in dirty clothes with no pajamas and no clean bedding. This is not acceptable to me! I have promised these folks that I am doing everything I can to get them the things they need. You can absolutely make a difference in these people's lives by sharing their needs with others.
Posted by Julee at 04:14 PM | Comments (1)
September 06, 2005
A Picture for Today
We saw Winnie the Pooh live yesterday at the absolutely gorgeous Majestic Theater.
Posted by Julee at 08:17 AM | Comments (1)
Bush Can Move Quickly
... when it concerns his own personal agenda.
Bush Promises to Move Quickly on Chief Justice
Posted by Julee at 08:03 AM | Comments (2)
September 05, 2005
Katrina
I haven't really felt like writing much lately. Anything going on in my life is pretty insignificant after seeing the events in New Orleans over the past week.
Having said that, San Antonio is abuzz over the 25,000 or so evacuees that have arrived over the past few days. There seem to be relief efforts everywhere, from all the city's major corporations to little kids with drink stands in their front yards. I was at Lackland AFB on Friday for a couple of routine pediatric appointments and there was a long parade of pick up trucks overflowing with all sorts of supplies heading over to Kelly USA, where several thousand people are staying.
I hope they can start their lives anew soon. As hard as I try, I just cannot imagine what it would be like to have to live and take care of my family in a big open shelter, sleeping on cots night after night. I know that so many of these people really, truly have nothing and nowhere to go.
Posted by Julee at 07:19 AM | Comments (1)