What was she thinking???

I was watching the Today Show this morning and heard about a woman in Vancouver, WA who intentionally burned her face with acid and then blamed it on someone else.  While listening to this story unfolded on the TV, I'm sitting there perplexed at the thought of someone not only inflicting that kind of pain on themselves, but also then trying to pass the blame onto someone else.  It is crazy to me to think that someone would do that.  She reportedly wiped drain cleaner on her face several times and then reported that someone had thrown acid at her.  She kept the lie going as the community rallied around her and donated money toward her medical bills.  The town collected around $30,000 on her behalf.  I have to wonder if she did this all just to get money.  I think there are a lot of generous people out there and if they hear stories like this then they are going to be less likely to give to other causes that they hear of in fear of being ripped off.  This women in Washington obviously has some mental/emotional issues that she is struggling with.  It makes me angry when I hear stories like this.  What do you think?

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/39284575#39284575

The First Day of the Rest of My Life

September 15, 2010.  I wake up at 6:45AM just like any other day, but today is different.  Today, I'm have the Lap-Band surgery.  I wake my son up and get him ready for school.  Out the door he goes for another exciting day of second grade.  As the bus leaves I am filled with anticipation.  My surgery is at 1:15PM at Barnes Hospital. 
It's been a long journey to this point.  My weight has always been an issue in my life.  I have constantly struggled with losing weight and keeping it off.  I've tried every diet under the sun:  Atkins, Weight Watchers, Metabolife, low calorie - you name it I've tried it.  I would do pretty good with the fad diets, until I got hungry and tired of eating the same things over and over.  Then little by little, I would gain the weight back.  I had just come to the realization that this was how my life was going to be.  I basically had given up.  I would eat sensibly and exercise when I could, but I wouldn't loose any weight.  Then I was introduced to the Lap-Band procedure.  At first I didn't want any part of it.  I thought it would be taking the "easy" way out and I was too good to have to have surgery to lose weight.  I did my research on the topic.  I met with surgeons, dietitians, physical therapists, and behaviorist.  I realized that this surgery was not in any way an "easy" way out and that it can produce some pretty miraculous results.  I still wasn't 100% on board.  Then my mom had the surgery done.  I watched her as she started on the journey to weight loss.  I watched for a year and her results were amazing.  Watching my mom go through this sealed the deal for me.  I decided this was something I wanted to do and that is was something that would change my life forever.  I am ready for the first day of the rest of my life, my healthier, thinner life.
 

Fido Saves the World

I watched a show on PBS the other night called Dogs That Change the World.  It was very interesting.  I have always been a dog lover, but I've never really stopped to thing about what amazing creatures they are.  People have used dogs as service dogs for many years to be the eyes for a blind man or feet for a physically disabled woman.  Did you know that dogs can also help people who are diabetic sense when their blood sugar is low?  Dogs have a very keen sense of smell, because of this some dogs are able to detect the slightest differences in a person's body chemistry.  Scientists are also beginning to study if dogs can actually smell cancer.  Think of the possibilities there could be if dogs could smell when someone has cancer!  Could this lead to earlier detection of certain cancers?  I've always heard of dogs and other animals having a "6th" sense to knowing when something is going to happen, such as an earthquake or other natural disaster.  Can they really sense whether someone has cancer, low blood sugar, or seizures?  I have a Boston Terrier named Bosco.  I don't know if he could "sniff our sickness", but he definitely know when something is not quit right.  he can tell when I'm upset or when one of the boys is sick.  I hope that scientists are able to train dogs to sniff out when someone is sick and it leads to less people dying of cancers and other illnesses.

www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/dogs-that-changed-the-world/medical-dogs/1277/

Family TV???

I was flipping through the channels on the TV today only to realize that there wasn't anything on, at least not anything fit for my family to watch.  I find it harder and harder to find a show that the whole family can watch without having to sensor it for our children.  Even the so-called family channels have questionable content in their shows.  What I don't understand is why?  Is out society so jaded that we only like violent, sexual, foul programs?  I don't think so.  What happened to TGIF?  Family Matters, Full House, The Cosby Show?  I know that those shows were not necessarily "reality based", but they were entertaining and everyone could watch them.  Many of you reading this may think that I'm old fashioned and that's OK.  I just feel that so many of out kids are exposed to violence, crude behavior, and sexuality in their daily lives and that maybe they don't need to see it on TV too.  The old saying "garbage in, garbage out" rings true.  No, I don't think that if a child plays war video games and watches violent TV shows that he's going to go to school with a gun and shoot people.  However, I do believe that if that child is constantly exposed to those things over and over that his feelings and ideas of what reality is or can be becomes morally skewed.  I also feel that watching shows with  questionable content forces children to take on adult roles, attitudes, and views much earlier than necessary.  Our children grow up too fast as it is, why speed up the process?  I don't know what your solution would be, but, in my house we just chose to turn off the TV all together.  What will you choose?  Just food for thought.