Saturday, August 29, 2009

Irena Sendler


Irena Sendler









There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive' .. She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German.) Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids..) She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.



In 2007 Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize ... She was not selected.



Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming.  





63 years later

















It is now more  than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe  ended. This is in memory of the  six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10  million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests  who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned,  starved and humiliated with the German and Russian Peoples looking the other  way!



Now, more than ever, with Iraq , Iran , and others, claiming the  Holocaust to  be 'a myth,' it's imperative to make sure the  world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.


Thursday, August 27, 2009

So my classes for the week are finished.  I had a lot of fun...and I believe I will do well in them.  My Political Science class is a little scary but I just need to pay attention.  I've never been one to delve into politics but this is a good place to start!

My other class...History of Rock Music seems as though it will be fun, too.  It's very, very long...almost 3 hours.  But it's only once a week.  So that makes it nice.

I'm still jobless...and still looking.  Tomorrow I have a list of things I need to get done...and Friday I'm hoping to start putting some things together for a yard sale.  We have so much crap in our tiny place that we just can't move around much at ALL!  And since we'd really like to invite my dad here for a visit we'd like to get things cleaned up...as much as we can without a vacuum cleaner, that is.  Ugh.

The days are still hot but the nights are getting cooler...signifying an end to summer's festivities and the beginning of autumn.  The chatter and shrieks from the children across the street at the Elementary school reach my ears in the mornings and I have to smile.  This is home...and it's great to be back. 

It's funny...a good friend of mine moved here to Reno a couple of years after I did and she always hated it.  Me...well, I love Reno.  I love the busy, big city feel and the small town way of life.  Take away the casinos and it'd be Anytown, USA.  But the sound of the train horn blowing at 1am downtown still makes me remember the hot nights I used to spend drunk with my friends stumbling around town to different clubs...dancing into the wee hours.  This is a fun town...and I'm so glad myself and my husband call it home.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

I know I haven't written in a few days.  Shame on me!  Shame, shame, shame!  I've been actually prepping for school and getting in the final paperwork, etc.  So I'm taking 9 credits which equals out to 3 classes (3/4 time).  One class is a college prep class that teaches you how to take notes, etc.  Funny, though...it starts 3 weeks after the start of school.  But on Monday and Tuesday I'll be attending night classes.  On Monday and Wednesday it will be Nevada history and the constitution and later the college prep class.  Then on Tuesday evenings for almost 3 hours...my humanities class, the history of rock music.  I'm stoked for that one.

But my new addiction is a web site called bidz.com.  Very fun...and lots of things.  You should try it!

I haven't been getting any exercise yet.  The back room is so dang hot lately cuz of the high temps in the 100's so I don't even like going back there to let the dogs in the backyard (the front yard works fine plus on Wednesdays and Saturdays I have the sprinkler on and they like to play in it.)  So I haven't been walking on the treadmill but I do walk more than I did in Utah.  It's quite a ways to get from the parking lot to Kurt's work and we also took a walk a few blocks up to 7-11 the other night.  I love walking at night.  The crickets chirping and cool air and dark night make for a romantic ambiance.  And I do love my husband!

I do have to admit that I'm getting tired of sweating after walking 10 steps, though.  Or being majorly out of breath after walking up a flight of stairs.  It has me worried...and it has Kurt worried, too.  And I hate sitting in my recliner chair and feeling the sweat gathering under my chin in my neck fold.  *Sigh*

The "kids" are great and are happy as ever....I don't think they ever aren't.  Well much.

So I've been reading this book lately called "Such a Pretty Fat" by Jen Lancaster.  She writes fat fiction/non-fiction.  More like biographies.  Anyway...VERY funny.  Some of you may have read her book "Bitter is the New Black".  There are times that I start reading at night after Kurt's already asleep and start laughing so hard that I have a hard time laughing quietly and have to put the book down.  I highly recommend it.

We both like to read books together and we recently finished a book called Middlesex.  It's about a hermaphrodite that grows up female and after finding out that her plumbing was NOT normal decided at the age of 14 to start living as a male.  It's interesting...sad, funny, insightful.  I would recommend that one as well.  We're about to start a new book but at the moment I can't remember the name of it so I'll post about it later.

I've been suffering a lot of insomnia lately.  I go to bed with a sleeping pill in me and end up tossing and turning for hours...literally.  Last night Kurt gave me a trazadone and made me a cocktail hoping that that would help.  I was definitely tired...but when I tried to fall asleep...nothing but tossing and turning.  I got out of bed and watching a couple episodes of CSI and the latest Weeds and tried going back to bed and tossed and turned till 4:30am.  The alarm goes off at 6:30am.  Needless to say I didn't get much sleep and while I'm tired now I'm afraid if I go in there I will just toss and turn some more.  It's a side effect of my anti-depressants but I'd rather live with it than deal with suicidal thoughts.  NEVER a fun feeling.

So that's my life up till now. 

Monday, August 17, 2009

So first thing this morning I made some calls regarding my classes that I'm going to be taking.  I really needed to get into an English and math class but overall it just isn't happening.  I'll just have to sign up for those next semester.  I'm still taking 9 credits, though.  The classes that I decided on are all over the schedule but I had to take what was available.  So I have an introduction to college class, Nevada history and the constitution, and the history of Rock music.  I think the last one is gonna rock.

Then Kurt and I hit the grocery store and only spent $100 for 2 weeks worth of food.  This making our meals instead of buying them is pretty cool!  Who knew???  Homemade (kind of) spaghetti sauce with adding our own spices is much yummier than buying the jars.  Just saying.

And then we treated ourselves to a movie.  We went and saw Julie/Julia.  It was so good.  Very entertaining and enlightening.  I'd recommend it.  My husband really enjoyed it, as well.

So I was trying to think about where I want to see this blog go.  I mean, yes it has to do with me...and I'm short and fat...but I don't have a lot of individual experiences that have to do with either fact.  Not daily, anyway.  So what am I really doing here?  I'm not terribly funny as a writer...I just write about what's going on in my head...and heart.  Is that bad?  Boring?  Do people really want to read about that stuff?  Do people ENJOY reading about my every day life?  I'm not sure I would.

I've been watching the 3rd season of the L word this past week on netflix instant queue thing.  It's pretty good.  I think they're in their 5th season now...I kinda fell behind for a while.  My life is nothing like that...and not in the sense that I'm not a lesbian...but more that my life does not consist of drama, drama, drama.  If it DID I would have more to blog about!  Maybe once school starts and I start working again....if that EVER happens!!!  Argh.

So when I first moved back I'd lost 10 pounds but then hit a plateau.  I need to start the treadmill again.  Exercise is always a good idea.  If I could just motivate myself to drag my ass out of the recliner and make the trek into the back room where it's located.  Back in the oven.  Blasted heat sucks the life right out of me!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Once upon a time my husband and I had a nice nest egg happening.  We were both making good money and was able to build up a savings.  It was nice.  We didn't worry about money.  We didn't worry about buying food or paying bills.  We were able to take a vacation every year and things were good.

Of course life changes...evolves.  And when that happens sometimes we're not always prepared for the outcome.  I was never prepared for being as poor as we are now.  I know it's for the greater good...with me going back to school and finding a career that I will enjoy for the rest of my professional life.  But in the interim...being poor SUCKS.  SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS!

Friday afternoon my husband calls me up after work and says he's going to be late in getting home because one of his tires went flat.  (There's two bald tires on his car so this wasn't surprising news.)  So he put the donut on and came home.  He doesn't want to drive his car with that on there and we can't afford even a used tire at the moment so it's sort of waiting for money to start coming in again before we replace it.  So last night I was taking my husband over to his friend's house for gaming (my husband is a D&D freak) and we stopped at the corner store for him to pick up some beer for while he was there.  He ran in while I waited in the car with the windows down and sunroof open.  (No, he didn't rob the place.)  He came back out and I went to start my car and nothing happened.  Nothing.  No power.  No lights.  No sounds.  Absolutely NOTHING.  One car already in commission and now this happens to my newer car?!  This can't be happening, I was thinking.  Argh.  So here I am in my PJ's (because who knew I would have to get out of the car when I was just taking him to his friends) getting out of the car and peering under the hood (that my husband had to have someone help him open since neither of us are mechanically savvy) trying to see something that looked like it might be out of place.  Keep in mind...we're not car people.  We're not motor-heads, by any means.  EVERYTHING under there looks foreign to us.  So my husband wiggles the battery cables and stuff and I go back and get in the car...which is by then beeping at me that I left the keys in it.  So I knew I had power again.  It started up and we were on our way.

We would have been in some serious trouble had there been a real problem with my car.  We can't afford to pay for car repairs and didn't have another car to fall back on.

Have I mentioned how I HATE being poor????  I HATE being poor!!!

Friday, August 14, 2009

So how is it that I ingest far too few calories in a day and still either gain or maintain the same weight?  Granted I don't get a lot of exercise...ok, no exercise beyond day to day stuff...but still.  What the heck is my body thinking???  Less equals more weight loss...no?  Sometimes I just don't get body chemistry.

Picking up a bag of nuts that was sitting in the seat of the car he says, "Oh, can't forget my nut sack!"

Snickering.  Silly husband.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

My wonderful and helpful husband sent me this info...I found it fascinating and useful so I am going to share it with all of you.  I don't usually blog other's info like this but in this case I think it's ok.


By Jennifer Nichol







Eat Foods High in Fiber


Celery and cabbage have long been touted as "calorie
burning" foods, simply because the energy used to digest these
foods is greater than the energy, or calories, ingested by eating
the foods. An added benefit of these foods is that they are fibrous
and filling, which means you will feel satisfied faster and on many
fewer calories that other food choices. Keep in mind, however, that
you don't want your caloric intake to be too low to cause a
drop in metabolism. When your metabolism drops, you will retain
more weight as the body responds to what it thinks is a period of
malnutrition.

Vitamin C is also believed to be a calorie burner and a weight
loss booster. Foods that are high in Vitamin C and also high in
fiber and low in calories include oranges, tangerines (fresh, not
canned), grapefruit (which are 90 percent water!), limes and
lemons.


Eat Low-Fat Dairy Products


Recent studies have been pointing to the fact that dieters who
eat at least two to three servings of low-fat dairy products a day,
like cottage cheese and yogurt, lose weight faster, keep it off
longer, and lose more weight in the belly area than dieters who
don't include dairy products in their diets.



Easy lunch additions include single-serving sizes of low-fat string
cheese, individually wrapped low-fat cheese wedges, milk cartons
(not just for elementary school cafeterias anymore) and even
fat-free sour cream in place of other condiments.


Choose Foods Rich in B12


Eggs, milk, low-fat cheese and cereals that have been
vitamin-enriched are all good sources of vitamin B12. Some sources
state that B12 increases the body's fat-burning ability. Every
gram of fat equals 9 calories, so when you burn fat, you burn
calories, too. Vitamin B12 is also known to fight fatigue and speed
up the metabolism, which are benefits that can give a boost to any
dieter.


For more about burning up calories and losing weight, check
out livestrong.com/eat-well/.




About this Author


Jennifer Nichol has been a contributing editor of food and wine
for Inside Roseville Magazine and was editor of Piper Jaffray's
eFinance Weekly. A fresh food and healthy living advocate, Nichol
is currently writing a book about raw living and the art of
meditative exercise.





Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Recently I revisited a rather unpleasant part of my past that. Let me explain...

I can honestly say that I've healed from the experience.  I've dealt with my past and I've overcome it.  I can look back at it from an impassive standpoint as though I'm doing nothing more than reading a bad novel.  I feel a bit of sadness and some sympathy.  But I can "see" the facts for what they are and have moved on. 

Sadly I cannot say the same about the other party.  There is so much bitterness and hatred on their end.  And I've learned through another party that slanderous lies have been told.  The years, while healing to me, have worked opposite for them.  In fact, over time, the lies have snowballed into something quite disastrous.  It is unhealthy for someone to carry that much hate in their soul. 

Why don't people let go and move on?  It's been ten long years.  Isn't it time?

Monday, August 10, 2009

OK, sometimes I really get irritated when a conversation goes something like this.

Friend: We should go to an amusement park sometime.
Me: Nah.  They're no fun when I can't ride the rides.
Friend: Why can't you ride the rides?
Me: Because my ass doesn't fit in the seats.
Friend: Why?
Me (with a disgusted look on my face): Hellooooooo...I'm fat!!!

Being fat is a fact of life.  I can say the word without getting embarrassed or pissy about it.  And I expect those around me to be able to do the same.  I mean...it's obvious.  It's not a secret that I'm trying to hide.  How can I?!  I'm 150 pounds overweight.  It's a LIT-TLE hard to hide that, don't you think?

So why do my friends (or acquaintance--because we DID establish in previous posts that I have no friends here) get all squeamish or uncomfortable when I say it?  If anyone feels that way should it not be me?  Take a page from my book, my friend, and just accept it.  News flash!  I KNOW I'M FAT!!!!!!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Newsflash

It hadn't occurred to me until tonight that I have no friends here in Reno.  None.  In fact, I don't really have but one good friend at all these days and she doesn't live in Nevada.  And the reason all this occurred to me was that my husband is off doing his Saturday night thing with his friends...and I'm home alone.  Bored.  Very bored.  I was home bored last night, too.  When he went to his book club meeting...with his friends.  My only friend here is my husband.  This sucks.  It really does.  Everyone has moved away.  I want some friends again dammit!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Oh now feel it comin' back again
like a rollin' thunder chasing the wind
forces pullin' from the center of the earth again
I can feel it.

I think I am starting to understand the true meaning behind those lyrics.  Bad luck?  Fate?  Life in general.  It is messed up.  No really, it is.  I have my good days and my bad days.  My good and bad years.  And the relentless, never-ending life of bad luck and always being THAT girl...in THAT situation.

Yes...I'm THAT girl in THIS situation.  I'm FAT.  That does not define me....unless I allow it.  And I allow it often.  I'm a happy person, overall.  But when I'm picked over for someone smaller, thinner and prettier than me...I can be a real bitch.  And annoyed.  And frustrated.  Sad.  There are all these emotions rolling around in me.  They go away for a while...but then they come back...rolling in like thunder chasing the wind.  It's life.  It's the way of it.  Can I ever get away from it?  Will I ever have all of my dreams fulfilled?  And more importantly when I die...can I say it was not in vain?  That falling in love with my husband...my best friend...my soul mate...was the greatest achievement of my life?  (He is!)  I don't want to die without impacting someone...without leaving a legacy of some kind behind.  I want people to say my name and think, wow, she was so cool.

I'm rambling.  I don't have a whole lot of clear things to write right now so you get my rambling, ramblingy, ramblings.  Aren't you guys so lucky?? 

I wonder if anyone actually reads my blog entries (other than my biggest fan-my husband).

Speak up if you read my blog!  Leave a comment.  I'll love ya for it!

Monday, August 3, 2009

So this totally awesome job came up on Craigs List for an adoption counselor at the humane society about a week and a half ago.  So, of course I sent in my email.  I mean, it's totally perfect for me.  It was listed for part time hours and with animals.  I'm studying to be a vet. tech. so PERFECT for me!

So I sent in an email and didn't hear anything back.  So Friday afternoon I sent an email to them asking if they'd received my resume and cover letter and the following day I was asked to come in this morning for an interview.  I was stoked!  So today's interview went really well.  Tomorrow I'll be going in at 10:30-7pm to do a shadow shift where I'll hang out with another adoption counselor to see what the basic day to day is like, etc.  I'm really excited.  I really hope this works out for me because it's just perfect.  The only drawback is the pay.  It's minimum wage.  I've never have a minimum wage job in 20 years.  LOL.  But it's more than I'm bringing in now which is absolutely NOTHING.

The good thing about it all is that animals don't care if you're fat or thin.  They just want to be loved.  And I definitely have plenty of that.  And I'd get to work with the public in a special time of their life...adopting an animal to become part of their family!  How freakin' cool is that????

I'll keep you updated!