Category: In the News

This story summarizes the many frustrations I felt while watching game 5. The game wasn’t rigged, but the officiating was ludicrous.

I had myself a fun little outing to Old Navy today. Not exactly all by myself, ie, without children, but at least without the two middle ones, which feels pretty free these days!! ANYWAY, while shopping, I learned something new that Old Navy is doing with their shirt sizing which might come in handy to other readers of this blog who are say, Moms over 30-ish, perhaps recovering from having a baby, sporting a few extra pounds, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah.

Much of my impression of Old Navy in recent years has been lots of teeny tiny short shirts that are NOT AT ALL appropriate on a person of my age and stature. But today I saw shirts in three different categories:

TINY fit
PERFECT fit
and
EASY fit.

Tiny fit is well, tiny. Perfect fit is a bit longer in the waist and while still fitted, not so tight. Easy fit was made for postpartum moms. Well, not really, but they were a wonderful fit for me and my little tummy. They are just a bit roomier all around, and even longer than the Perfect fit, which makes them long enough to wear with maternity jeans/pants. Because even though I am smaller than I was 8 weeks ago, I am a LONG (read 30 pounds) way from pre-baby size. This affects my ability to get into all my old clothes, even the “big” shirts!! And while I can obviously fit into my maternity tops, they are starting to look silly on me. Besides, I am getting a lot of those “When is your baby due?” questions, even when I have the baby right there next to me!! That is getting a little old.

So today I got three new long-sleeved shirts in very fun colors for $24 total. Not bad. And, because I was feeling extremely self-indulgent, I bought MATCHING SOCKS!! So folks, I may still be sporting my maternity jeans and pants for some time to come, but I feel pretty stylin’ in my new tees and socks!!

Here’s a county-by-county view of the presidential election, courtesy USA Today:

Today we played with friends at a Splash Park in nearby Allen. It was a gorgeous day, and both kids and moms had a great time. All went swimmingly (heh heh) until I picked up Nicolas who had wandered off, to move him back toward our group. and noticed as I put him down that there was a rather strange odor about him. Oh, and what was that brownish stuff on my otherwise pristine sea blue tank?? Hmmm??? Any guesses, mothers (or fathers) of children who are not yet potty-trained???

Yep, that’s right. What a mess. It was everywhere, and he was disgustingly dirty, from waist to toes. So much for swimmie diapers and their powers of containment…

Having already shared many of my diaper wipes with friends, as there seemed to be a general shortage of them today, and being in a place with bathrooms that were yes, clean, but devoid of soap and paper towels, I began musing over my options. What was I to use to sanitize my toxic child? And myself? And even if I could get us both clean, and Nicolas into fresh clothes, what was I to wear? You see, I had packed extra clothes for all three children, but not for me. And my shirt REALLY needed to be changed.

Well, I left the two older kids in the care of some very dear friends and Nicolas and I made our way to the restroom, where we stayed for the better part of half an hour. Everything that might serve as a wipe or cleaning implement came out of the diaper bag and cooler: napkins, kleenex, the few remaining wipes, bread (no, just kidding!) and OH!! What little treasure did I find at the bottom of my bag but a Huggies Disposable Washcloth which I received in the mail about a year ago and have kept in my bag ever since, “just in case”. God bless Huggies. I’m going to go buy a box of these handy things. Just add water to this soft flannel-like cloth and you have yourself a foamy, soapy, absolutely wonderful bath for your dirty baby, toddler, preschooler, whatever.

My previously scandalously dirty little boy was squeaky clean when we were through. And he smelled pretty, too. Dry diaper, fresh clothes and he was a brand new kid. As for me, after a bit of freshening, I returned to the group wearing my five year old daughter’s school t-shirt. I was reminded of a comic moment in One Fine Day where Michelle Pfeiffer chose in desperation to wear her son’s dinosaur t-shirt into a company sales presentation for lack of anything else to put on at the time. Not that I look like Michelle Pfeiffer… But, ANYWAY, I digress.

The point of all this is that if you think you might ever have a need for a washing on the go, do take time to stop by your local Walmart or wherever, and stock up on some of Huggies’ handy-dandy disposable washcloths!

…has blown into our neighborhood. Has anyone else been awestruck by this amazingly mild weather we seem to be enjoying? This evening, the sky was a deep shade of blue with bursts of white fluffy clouds everywhere, and if you stepped outside to admire this canopy of beauty, you might have been a little surprised to feel a cool breeze!! What? In August? Yes indeed, and how lovely it was. The children and I chose to eat our supper of chicken tacos out on the patio while listening to birds and watching planes as the sun slowly set. We all had a wonderful time until finally (I am not joking) we got too cold to stay outside in our summer shirts and shorts. It was, after all, only 75 degrees! Brrrrrr!!

I am undone. The AP is currently running a story regarding the horrid beheading of a young American man. It is a personal, warm account of the remembrances of his various friends and relatives. So far so good.

So how did any self-respecting news organization let the following headline run against the story? Friends, Family Remember Beheading Victim

Perhaps in the future when folks are reading this entry in our archives, they will click through to the story a discover someone has modified the ghastly headline. One can only hope.

I came into work this morning only to discover that Nortel fired several top execs with cause, including the CEO. Some are speculating that the books were cooked to activate a massive executive bonus that the board had approved.

Rather, it appears Nortel executives used sometimes vague accounting rules to help the money-losing telecom gear maker show a profit. A $100 million bonus pool set up by Nortel’s board may have been an underlying motivation.

How sad. Pride can come before a fall, but I suppose greed will suffice.

Of course, there are financial consequences for those worker bees that didn’t get the massive bonuses. Since the first sign of the accounting problems broke, our Nortel shares in 401(k)s, stock options, etc. have all been frozen out while the stock price has been in a freefall. Which is not to bemoan my lot in life or claim financial hardship, but rather to highlight the injustice.

I can’t help but reflect on the Kingdom of God, in which there are no false weights and measures, men live in God’s image by speaking the truth, and our work is blessed and fruitful. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

[edited 4/29/2004]

I’ve been sitting on a bit of wonderful news for some time now, but it only seemed proper that I save my excitement until after Bloggy posted an official announcement on his own page. My baby brother is engaged!! Hooray!! We are so thrilled that soon he and Miss Jamison, as she is fondly referred to around here, will be married. We are all absolutely smitten with the future Mrs. Brunone. Our children ask at least once a day when the wedding will be.

Our prayers and best wishes are with the happy couple as they prepare to start this new phase of life. Thanks be to God for bringing them together and may He richly bless them in their upcoming marriage.

Many of you have probably noticed that I do not generally offer political commentary on our site… so consider this a News of the Weird snippet. Howard Dean made the oddest sound during his Iowa concession speech. You simply have to hear it to believe it. First, though, for background, here’s a quote from an article providing a setup (Dean Loses It).

That was a perfectly reasonable gloss for a candidate to put on unfavorable election results. But Dean quickly took on a red-faced, shouting, teeth-baring, air-punching demeanor unlike any of his performances during the campaign.

“Not only are we going to New Hampshire,” he said, his voice rising. “We’re going to South Carolina and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and we’re going to California and Texas and New York. And we’re going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan. And then we’re going to Washington, D.C. to take back the White House.”

Then he let out a strange, extended, yelp that seemed to come from deep within him: “YAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

Dean resumed his roll of states. “We will not give up! We will not give up in New Hampshire! We will not give up in South Carolina! We will not give up in Arizona or New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan! We will not quit now or ever! We’ll earn our country back for ordinary Americans!”

Now listen to the mp3 (courtesy the Drudge Report).

I realize I’m late in posting this, but the Rice Owls have won their first national title in any sport! This is no small feat given that Rice is the smallest of all NCAA Division I schools and has the highest graduation rate of all NCAA Division I schools.

Go Rice!