welcome LiliAnn

On June 4th, we welcomed the newest arrival into our family, my niece LiliAnn Faye Scherer. My sister Jessica had a C-section and at 9:44pm LiliAnn joined the world. She weighed 6lbs 9oz and measured at 20.5 inches. She is beautiful. I am so happy for my sister and Michael. And for my parents. They have been waiting a long time to become grandparents. I am sure they thought it would never happen.

I am so excited to now be Auntie Kim. I just wished I lived closer so I could watch LiliAnn grow up.

Welcome little LiliAnn. You are loved so much already.

thank you Specter, thank you

I never thought I would have anything nice to say about Arlen Specter but I apparently do. After 5 terms in the Senate as a Republican, Specter has announced that he is switching to the Democrats as his views are no longer in line with the Republican party.

WOW!!!!!

The Republicans are running scared now. Not only have they lost the White House and the majority in Congress, but now, one of the party’s top people is walking away. Turning his back because he doesn’t agree with where the party is going.

Thank you Arlen Specter.

people are unbelievable

Arizona Humane Society found a little Chihuahua, with its legs duct taped and a bag tied around its head, on the side of the road. I cannot believe that someone out there is so unfeeling and disturbed to do this to a helpless animal. There is absolutely nothing that can excuse or explain this. I would like to think the guilty party will be caught but I doubt it. Hopefully the guilt will eat them alive.

boy do I wish I was graduating this spring

Well, the word is out that President Obama will be speaking at ASU’s May commencement. And I am SO jealous. I wish I could be there to witness this. How awesome to have the President speak at your graduation. I hope the graduates appreciate the honor that will be bestowed them.

Earth Hour

On March 28th at 8:30pm, there is a global event called Earth Hour. It is an hour in which people are asked to basically be off the electrical grid and for an hour I hope most Americans take part in this event as all it requires is to turn all your lights off for an hour and do a small gesture for he fight against global climate change. For all of you who say you can”t make a difference, well this is your chance to do something positive.

big brother is watching…everywhere

Working as a crisis counselor in the mental health field, I am well aware of the rampant prescription drug abuse occurring in our communities. In particular, teenagers are buying and selling drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin on school campuses to get high. Of course I want this trend to cease. But I am not sure I like the way Arizona is going about it. If you have a script for meds such as OxyContin, Amben or Vicodin, then once you fill it your name and other info is put into a tracking system. Then a doctor or pharmacist can look up patients to see when they last had a scripts filled for prescription meds such as Ambien and Vicodin to see if the patient is “doctor shopping.” I think this is a privacy issue and makes me very uncomfortable.

way cool

I just finished watching Grapes of Wrath on my MacBook Pro. We got the movie through Netflix several weeks ago and Scott finished watching it on his way back from DC a week ago. So while laying on the couch tonight, I plugged in my earphones and watched it on my laptop. It worked out great as Scott was in the room playing his XBOX 360 and I didn’t have to worry about interrupting him.

Very cool. I am excited to be doing more of this when I have down time at work and on plane rides when I do travel.

one of my fav commercials

Hotels.com Commercial – Guy Pouring Shampoo On His Head – The top video clips of the week are here

This commercial makes me laugh every time I see it! Well done.

bad chlorine, bad

I don’t think anybody ever thought chlorine was a good thing.  But most of us probably thought it was a necessity.  I actually refuse to use bleach when doing my laundry and I have minimized cleaning products in my house that have bleach or chlorine. For cleaning and doing dishes I instead try to use brands such as Method and Seventh Generation.  I also utilize Clorox Green Works.

One thing I have not thought about is bleached paper.  I think I am currently using bleached coffee filters, which after reading this article from Care2, I am now in fear off.  But I hate to waste things so I will probably continue to use them and then once gone, buy unbleached filters.

hot hot hot

It really is ridiculous to be reaching near record temps in the first week of February.  Where is our winter?  80 degee weather is just not cool.  No pun intended.  Maybe I’ll blame the weather on why I am sick right now.  Yep.  It’s the weathers fault.   When it is 80 this early in the year, I get nervous.  I DO NOT want to see 100 before May.