August 31, 2007
The big news around these parts is Grace and her new haircut!
I took her along with me to the salon last night, and once the color was on my hair, my guy braided her hair and cut off close to 12 inches of hair for Grace to donate to Locks of Love. Doesn’t she look amazingly cute with her new short bob? It’s kind of a Posh Spice haircut, only cuter! She was SO excited about being able to go off to school today and show it off, plus today is school picture day.
10:08 am
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August 30, 2007
I was watching Psych on USA earlier today - have you ever seen the show? It’s very funny. The premise is that the “psychic detective” is actually just hyper observant and has a photographic memory. He fakes a lot of psychic episodes in order to keep up her psychic persona. It got me thinking about how in general, people aren’t typically observant. Have you ever heard of the police using hypnosis on a witness to determine what really happened? People see things, but they don’t really NOTICE things, and hypnosis can help to determine what the suspect really looked like, or what the license plate read - things you saw, but didn’t notice.
Of course, you can’t just get anyone to fall into a hypnotic trance by waving a watch in front of their face like in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. You need to have someone with hypnosis training to do it correctly. Hypnosis has more than just a forensics application as well. It’s been used to help people stop smoking, lose weight, and change bad habits. Hypnotherapy is now commonly used to help people who have been in a accident or through a traumatic event. It’s definitely an interesting an evolving field, with a lot of applications!
10:14 pm
Filed under Linky Dinky
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Gracie has long hair, and I love it. It’s the perfect kind of hair to do fun things with - we frequently put in curlers, or braid it. It’s not too thick, like my hair, or her sister’s hair, which means it’s super easy to work with, so I’ve convinced Gracie to grow it longer and longer.
Now that she’s a big, bad, 10 year old, she’s decided that she’s ready for a short new ‘do. She’s been asking me for weeks about getting her hair cut and donating her ponytail to Locks Of Love. Her older sister did that about a year ago, and I couldn’t drive her to the salon fast enough. She’s got thick hair that’s hard to work with, much like my own, and having it short has been great.
When Grace heard that I was going to get my hair cut tonight, she asked me again about getting her hair cut. Tomorrow is picture day at school, and she “really, really, really” wants her hair short for the picture. It looks like I don’t have any other choice! How can I refuse her when she wants to donate her hair to such a great organization? I sure am going to miss being able to style her long hair though. Hopefully her super fine hair can cope with being cut short and will work itself into a cute bob instead of just hanging limply.
4:48 pm
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Now that our trip to Vegas is planning, Jim is wondering what he’ll be doing for his next “guys trip”. Obviously, since we’re going to Las Vegas as a couple, he’s not interested in heading back there anytime soon. He’s been talking about trips to Costa Rica or the Dominican Republic, which are two countries we’ve never been able to visit on a cruise. Not knowing what there even was to see or do in th Dominican Republic, I decided to check out what information I could find online. I do know from a friend who visited the Dominican Republic a few years ago that all-inclusive resorts are quite popular there, but that’s not what Jim has in mind for a guys trip at all.
I’m wondering if he and his friends would be interested in camping there? 
I read online that there are 16 national parks in the Dominican Republic, and eco-tourism is a big draw for people. Can you imagine being able to stay in a beautiful, tropical national park? There are places where you can pitch your own tent, or you can stay in a dorm style building with other travelers. There are adventure trips offered that would definitely appeal to Jim and his friends - hiking, kayaking, snorkeling, and other water sports. If they get bored with all of the natural beauty, gambling is legal in the Dominican Republic, and there are 31 casinos across the country!
10:02 am
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August 29, 2007
Remember a guy named Richard Jewell? If you don’t, he was the security guard who found a suspicious backpack with a bomb in it at the Olympics in Atlanta back in 1996. He went from hero to zero when it was decided that he must have had something to do with the backpack o’ bombs, and poor Richard never really bounced back after that. Oh sure, he was never arrested or charged, but he was questioned and his home was searched. I don’t think you can every fully recover from something like that. You’ll always be “that guy” who was accused of bombing the Olympics.
(For the record, whack job Eric Rudolph admitted bombing the Olympics.)
Richard Jewell died this week. It’s sad that his claim to fame was being accused of something he didn’t do, and I feel sorry for the guy and his family for having to live through such a mess.
6:23 pm
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There’s a special place in hell reserved for people like Leona Helmsley. She who earned her name as the “Queen of Mean” in life (she was once quoted as saying “Only the little people pay taxes”) will keep the nickname in death. She left $12 million to her dog in her will, but gave nothing to her 2 grandchildren. Here’s how Leona’s heirs made out:
- A white Maltese named Trouble gets $12 million
- Leona’s brother, Alvin Rosenthal, will care for trouble in her absence. For his “trouble”, he receives a few million of his own.
- Two grandchildren, born to her late son Jay Panzirer, receive a $5 million each, as long as they visit their father’s grave once a year.
- Jay’s other two children, got nothing. Taking a page from the book of Joan Crawford, Leona said that Craig and Meegan Panzirer will receive nothing for “reasons that are known to them”.
- Leona’s chauffeur, Nicholas Celea, received $100,000.
Helmsley also specified that her dog be buried with her in the Helmsley mausoleum, which is to be steam cleaned once a year. Talk about a control freak!
For the record, there may very be some great reason that Craig and Meegan Panzirer were excluded from receiving any cash. That’s certainly Leona choice, since it’s her cash. But to give $12 million to put in a trust for the DOG? That money could have gone a lot further, and helped a lot more than just one dog. What about making a contribution to the Humane Society? Or donating the money to an organization that spays and neuters pets?
What a waste!
5:36 pm
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I booked my airfare and hotel for Postie Con today. I splurged on 2 tickets on a non stop flight for myself and Jim, and we’re going to be in Las Vegas for 5 nights. I’m planning on meeting up with lots of people I’ve only talked to online, schmoozing, eating at In N’ Out, and hitting the slots. If the slots aren’t hot, I’ll squeeze the Grand Canyon in.
Only 72 days left to go til Las Vegas!
4:35 pm
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When I sit in my office at work, I hear our recruiters on the phones, having length conversations with our applicants. They seem to do a lot of career coaching - giving interview tips, assisting people with their resumes, and in general, acting as a go between for the applicant and our clients. Career coaching isn’t really what our people are supposed to do, and for a lot of them, it’s not something they’re good at. McSourcer is a new company founded by recruiters and HR professionals who think that career coaching is a huge part of personal career development, and they offer assessment to each candidate to figure out where your interests and strengths lie. When you visit the McSourcer registration page, you’ll be able to register for the site and see their unique approach to career change and job placement. It’s definitely a lot more specialized than what I see in my day to day dealings.
4:05 pm
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I’m all out of sorts today.
Two nights ago, we had a killer storm roll through, and by roll though, I mean that I expected lighting to hit my house. It was that close! The power went off and on several times, the dogs paced and barked, and the kids freaked out. It ended relatively quickly, and we went to bed. The next morning (uhh, that would be yesterday) I went to the garage to drive off to work and the garage door wouldn’t open.
Hmm.
I looked at the breaker box (conveniently located in the garage) and realized one of the breakers must have tripped during the storm. I tripped it and pulled out of the garage, but then my garage door clicky thing on my visor wouldn’t work, so I sent my oldest in to close the garage door with the button in the garage, and then she exited out the front door.
When Jim got home, his clicky thing worked, but he noticed the breaker was tripped again. He put it back into place and noticed the switch on the same wall (which controls a light on the outside of the house) was popping and smoking. And yes, our warranty on the house JUST ended in May. Perfect timing, right?
We figured no big deal - we can open and close the garage door manually, so it’s just a matter of getting an electrician out sometime this week, right? Well, until we realized that our family room is also on that breaker, and with it off, we can’t watch that TV. With the power off to the cable box, my DVR is off, and not recording. Basically, no TV on my schedule like I’m used to. I’m lost!
I put a call into a family friend who knows his way around an electrical panel, and you can imagine how anxiously I’m awaiting his call. This could be a sign that I watch too much TV, but I’m trying not to read too much into things.
3:42 pm
Filed under Entertainment, Home Sweet Home
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Judging from the gifts and cards on my dining room table, I think it’s safe to say Gracie had a great 10th birthday. We enjoyed dinner out and came home for cake. Jim and I gave her an MP3 player, her brother bought earrings for her, her sister gave her a necklace and a CD. One grandmother gave cash, the other gave her a digital camera. No lie - when Gracie opened it, she turned to her sister and said, “In your FACE, Catherine!”
My kids are usually terribly polite, so we cracked up. It’s kind of hard to correct someone when you’re laughing so hard 
3:34 pm
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