Where did the time go?

It's really hard for me to accept, but Evan turned 13 on Sunday. He's a teenager now. I remember when he was like 3 playing with his train set. He had long curly hair that was so blonde it was almost white. Oh goodness, where did the time go?

For his birthday, he had 2 friends over. Josh made them tacos. Abby and I made a cookie cake with frosting for him. They also went to see Ironman. It was a really good birthday for him.

Evan and his buddies



Blowing out the candles. Of course we got the ones that don't blow out.



Opening presents at breakfast.

Trying to make sense of this one

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/01/babies.tower/#cnnSTCText

I don't recommend watching the video.

Villagers throw babies from temple roof

(CNN) -- In a ritual that would terrify most mothers, Indian villagers have cheered as screaming babies were dropped from a 50-foot temple tower.

For 500 years, worshippers at a Muslim shrine in western India have continued the tradition -- a rite considered to bring good health and good luck to the children.

The infants land and bounce on a bed-sheet held taut by men 50 feet below, and are quickly passed through the crowd to their mothers.

Villagers say no babies have been injured during the ritual, which is practiced by Muslims and Hindus in Musti village in the district of Solapur, in the state of Maharashtra. Watch worshippers throw babies from tower. »

It also takes place elsewhere in the country, mostly in smaller villages, on special occasions.

Parents who want their infants to participate in the event first take a vow at the Baba Sheikh Umar Saheb Dargah, or temple. Villagers say the ritual is a way of giving thanks.

But critics want the practice banned, with many saying it's unsafe.

"The state has to interfere," said Sanal Edamaruku, founder and president of Rationalist International and the Indian Rationalist Association. The group supports secularism and freedom of expression.

What do you all think of this? I'm trying to learn and not judge (anthropology training and all) but I am just having a hard time not wanting to slap these people and take all their babies away.

Boo-Boos

Abby was playing out in the yard with her two little friends who are also 5. She tripped and fell down and came in the house crying. It wasn't bad enough for a band-aid but I gave her one anyway. I always kiss her boo-boos and as I was patching her up, her friends knocked on the door. She goes to answer it and says to them, "It's okay guys. My Mommy is just going to kiss all my boo-boos and make them better.". Awww, it was the cutest thing. I love that she still believes that Mommy's love is a powerful medicine.

I've been tagged

Amy tagged me to fill this out:

i am: very frazzled after this long, busy and stressful week.

i think: that I'm glad it's over and the weekend is beginning

i know: that life is beautiful...even if it's stressful.

i want: to feel all better.

i have : beautiful children and a wonderful husband

i wish: I had infinite patience

i hate: when my family does not pick up after themselves

i miss: feeling good and having energy

i fear: losing someone i love

i feel: exhausted

I hear : the wind and Abby playing

i smell: the dog

i crave: sleep, lots of sleep.

i search: for ways to juggle it successfully

i wonder: why certain people act the way they do...it sucks

i regret: putting off my project until the last minute.

i love: my family and friends

i ache: with tiredness

i care: more than I should about people and things that I cannot change.

i always : give it my all.

i am not: good at standing up for myself because I hate confrontations.

i believe: very strongly in the search for enlightenment

i dance: when I'm cleaning the house and listening to tunes

i sing: along when I know the words.

i cry: when I'm sad or happy. I'm emotional and my hormones have been out of whack for 2 1/2 years

i don’t always: feel like doing my hair

i fight: when I feel it's worth fighting over

i write: notes for class, to-do lists and shopping lists. I am very bad at written correspondence.

i win: for kicking cancer's butt!

i lose: at Super Mario Brothers #3....it's quite embarassing

i never: say never. I'm pretty much open to trying anything once.

i confuse: what I want with what I need

i listen: to a little bit of everything

i can usually be found: at home

i am scared: of losing loved ones

i need: a nap, a hot bath and good book

i am happy about: having a date with my husband tonight

i think : life is a 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.

I don't have anyone on Blogger to tag so I'm tagging Myspace folks.

Working hard

Evan went to work with Josh today because it was bring your child to work day. Apparently he had a busy day because this how we found him shortly after they got home.

2nd time in a week...

Here we go again and again and again....

This is the email I just saw in my student email inbox:

"CAMPUS ALERT posted at 4/22/08 10:30 a.m.

In response to a graffiti threat found last night on campus, students, faculty and staff should expect to see heightened security on campus for the next several days. University Police say threats of this nature do not warrant a change in normal operations.

NIU officials say campus-wide notification about threats of this sort reflects heightened sensitivity to security concerns here and throughout the region.

All members of the NIU campus community are urged to remain calm but vigilant, and to report any information they might have about this threat to the campus police."

And yes, while I was in class I saw a campus officer stroll by the room. I am just so sick of this crap. Should I transfer to a different university? Is this going to get better? It's kind of hard to concentrate on finals and projects and stuff with all these threats. This is 2 in less than a week now.

Best weekend ever!

This past weekend was the best one I've had in many months. It was so much fun hanging out with some of my closest friends and getting a chance to relax after the stress of the past few months.
Friday night Matt, Tom and Megan came down to uh break our blender with us. We wanted to whip up some margaritas with our new blender, but it self-destructed on the 1st try. Thank you Black and Decker! Luckily Matt has a way cooler blender than us and it actually doesn't eat it's own parts. The night started with margaritas and ended with shots of tequila.


Only Matt can drink margaritas from my Wonder Woman cup. Rock on Matt.



RIP Blendy 4/18/2008



Double Megans! Not May-gans.



Saturday morning, I picked up Amy and we headed to Lake Geneva for a girl's weekend with Alycia and Tracy. It was so nice to have girl talk, shop, go to the spa and just relax.



Pretty toes/fingers. Guess which ones are mine.



Of course things got a little silly when the Sparkletini came out.