Rakshanda

Cute, aint's she?
I finally got a good pic of the baby niece, Samantha. We were at my other sister's house, celebrating my brother-in-law's birthday, and I was feeding her, and put her up on my shoulder to burp her. I had a baby blanket on my shoulder, just in case she spit up. She did.

OMG. The blanket wasn't nearly enough. I had to change my clothes (had to borrow some from my sister). How does this tiny little baby hold so much milk?

OMG
My rent just went up again. I haven't had a raise in six years. I don't dare ask for one. What am I going to have to give up now? Cell phone? TV? Internet? All of the above?

Current Mood: panic

Update
This is my new niece. She's cuter than the video shows. I will have to take a picture when she's sleeping.

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Went to a party last weekend. The weather was gorgeous, and most people were in a pretty good mood. I do wish they'd leave the drums home. I am sooooooooooooo sick of the Beladi and Masmoudi rhythms. Everyone who gets a drum takes one beginner class, learns those two rhythms, and plays them ad nauseum. They should leave the kids home too. At a party where people are doing some pretty heavy drinking, kids should NOT be there. I was depressed on Friday (the party started Friday and lasted the weekend). One of my friends gave me a scalp massage and I started to relax and just started crying. One of my other girls took me aside and had a long talk with me. It did me some good, I think.

I am concerned for one friend who was there. Got drunk, passed out. Woke up, drank more, passed out. Did this FOUR times. They had to take the bottle away from him. Now, you don't drink like that to feel good. You drink like that to feel nothing. I know, I did it for two years. I wish I knew how to help him.

My BF still came over on Sunday, even tho he'd had very little sleep because of the party. I was glad of it, because I had an awesome time. :D

It's a girl! My new baby niece.
My sister just had a baby! Yay! But she has not yet posted pictures for me to share. :(

It's a girl. She's 8 lbs, 14 oz. Her 4-year old brother predicted that she would look like him, "except for the smallness...and the crying." He was right. My sister has a slideshow screensaver on her PC with pics of him as a baby, and they do look alike, IMHO.

I stumbled upon a diaper-changing instruction manual by

seperis and laughed until my sides ached. So true. Especially when I babysat yesterday. You've got to read it.

Current Mood: amused

What do you think of as the best thing (s) you've ever done in your life
LJ Writer's Block prompt: What do you think of as the best thing (s) you've ever done in your life?

I joined a group of people to help some neglected horses at a horse rescue farm They were in bad shape. We spent the whole day feeding, watering, cleaning up stalls and (ew) removing ticks. We had to approach them slowly and speak quietly, as they were very skittish around people. But by the end of the day, they were trotting up to us to eat treats out of their hands.

I give blood. I worked on a hurricane relief effort. I sold raffle tickets to raise money for a domestic violence shelter.

One time someone posted to a message board that she was depressed, overweight and alcoholic. She said something about craving sweets, and I posted a reply to tell her she was sugar-sensitive. I recommended some books and links for more info. I forgot about it for three months, then she emailed me to tell me that she was sober, had lost 30 lbs, and felt better than she had in years. She just wanted to thank me. That felt good.

When I was about 14, I saw a little girl I saw being picked on by three boys on her way home from school. I made them back off, and walked her home. I was her "bodyguard" the rest of that year.

Three day weekend. Now I remember why I don't take vacations. Having so much time off leads to too much thinking, which makes me depressed. Going to the memorial didn't help either. I'm not making it all about me, but it hurts to see all those people I thought were my friends years ago. After the sixth time someone asked me how I'm doing, I wanted to go home. I get so tired of saying "I'm OK" when I'm not. They don't want to hear how you really are. No one does. You're supposed to say "Fine, how are you doing?" I just can't do that anymore.

I thought my score would be higher.
41% Geek

Created by OnePlusYou

Mostly because I'm in fandom. I could get questions like the name of the ship in "Firefly". I'm not very techno-savvy, but my BF is. I lost points because I don't play video games. I just don't enjoy them. Fanfiction counts as "books", right?

I went to an SCA event over the weekend, but it rained late in the evening, and most folks packed up and went home. Mostly, it was a fighting event, with heavy fighting (see picture) fencing, and archery. There was a Middle Eastern tent, with drumming, bellydancing, and some goodies like hummus, pitas, baklava, fruit, and Turkish delight. They had some demos on chain mail, weaving, armoring, etc.

The local paper had an article on the event, and they had a separate article on my friend (the one who passed away a couple of weeks ago). His friends had a memorial service for him, and put his armor on his shield and carried it to court, like pallbearers would carry a casket. The paper had an article about him, too. He will be missed. This is a picture of him and his wife Frances.

I lost a friend today.

He was my boyfriend about 20 years ago. He was good friends with my current boyfriend; they had been known each other since high school. A few months ago he became ill, but thought it was just the flu. But it didn't get better, and he checked into a hospital. I didn't get to see him, because he got worse quickly. I had to call a few people and tell them the bad news. Some of us will be going to dinner with his wife tomorrow, to show her our support. I just wish I could do more.

Current Mood: sad

Memorial Day. A day to remember the soldiers who have died in the wars. Why do they keep saying they're dying for "freedom"? The biggest threat to our freedom is Bush, who should be blamed for the deaths of more than 4,000 service members, the maiming of tens of thousands, and the deaths of half a million Iraqis. Two wars with no end in sight, and now he's rattling sabers at Iran. U.S. soldiers might have signed up for the service, thinking they were going to be asked to defend their nation. Instead, they being used to advance Bush's neocon imperialist goals.

Support the troops? Of course I do. I want them home in one piece. I want mental health services for the ones suffering from shell shock. I want help offered to the ones facing poverty and homelessness. I want health care given to those that need it. I want "stop-loss" stopped. I want extended tours stopped.

The ones that have violated human rights should be brought to justice, and I include Bush & Co. in that number.

Feeling better today. I got the PC working better, but I had to dump Flash to do it. I did have one spyware problem and fixed that. At least now it will stop crashing long enough to do a virus scan and defrag.

I went to my sister Writer's meetup. I don't know about sharing my fic, tho. All I have written so far is Clex fic, and I only share that with you guys. One lady brought a short story I thought was awful. I didn't comment. I only like giving good feedback, ya know? Maybe I will try poetry again. I didn't write much, but I think what I did was pretty good. I wish I had keep my French class project. I translated a French poem into an English one, with the same meter. Teacher was impressed. :) Anyway, I met some nice people and that helps.

I'm a little apprehensive about tomorrow. I'm going to see my mom in the morning, and visiting her can ruin my day. My one sister said "she's like a virus. It takes a couple of days to get over her." I doubt my sisters will even call her. Yeah, she was that bad. Not abusive, but neglectful. Folks, if you have kids, tell them you love them. Hug them. Tell them you're proud of them. Because if you make your kid wait 40 years to hear it, she won't believe you. My dad was kinda clumsy as a parent, but I never doubted that he loved me.

Current Mood: worried

My computer just crashed, and I started crying. Straw, meet camel's back.

( Stressors/disappointments )

I don't know what is wrong with LJ this time, but it's frozen twice. I'm just going to go to bed. I hope the weekend gets better.

Current Mood: aggravated

Some days I should limit my exposure to the news. More than 22,000 dead in Burma. Like living under martial law wasn't bad enough. I'm sending a donation to CARE tomorrow, and the donation will be matched. I wish I could do more.

The National Bone Marrow Registry has a recruitment campaign going on from May 5 to May 19, 2008. Usually, it costs money to join, but for this time period they are accepting new donors for free.

Doing my part to piss off the religious right
In response to heat they're getting from the American Family Association, Proctor & Gamble is conducting a phone poll to see if people are for or against the Luke/Noah storyline on As The World Turns. Even if you don't watch the show, please consider taking a quick moment to support boy kissing and thwart homophobic bigotry. The poll is completely automated. You don't have to talk to anyone. And it really does take all of a second to register your opinion.

Just call 1-800-331-3774

Listen to instructions then Press a number to get to the ATWT poll, then Press a number in Support of the storyline.

You can also press a number to get to the MTV & BET poll, then pressed 2 in support of continued advertising on these beleaguered stations. (Evidently an organization called 'Enough is Enough' is stirring up some sort of ruckus about whatever they found offensive (no!) on MTV or BET)

It takes a second to do, and a few more seconds to pass this along!!
(Don't forget mass-emailing, too!)

P.S. I hope Dobson doesn't find out about Torchwood.

meme

thefridayfive

1. Whats harder to live without, chocolate or alcohol?
Well, I shouldn't have either one (Stoopid hypoglycemia). I gave up alcohol. I would hate to have to give up chocolate, too. It's really tough to quit coffee. Like my sister says, it's "liquid comfort food."

2. Does the colour yellow remind you of anything?
My birthday. I'm the kind of synesthete that associates things with colors. August 7 is gold. Both the month and the color.

3. Who most annoyed you last week?
No contest. The lazy, incompetent, overpaid, brown-nosing, passive-agressive sales director who is "in charge" while the boss is on vacation.

4. Do you have a cutesy romantic nickname for your partner (or previous partners)?
No

5. What is your favourite Stephen King movie?
Probably the Lawnmower Man. Although they shouldn't have said "Based on a story by Stephen King" It''s more like "suggested by the title of a short story by Stephen King. Most the of the movies based on his books are complete crap.

Happy Earth Day!

glitter-graphics.com

Stuff I already do:
recycle household glass, aluminum, steel, and plastic
turn off lights
turn off running water
combine trips to save gas (now more than ever)
Freecycle
Conservation: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
Bought a DivaCup.
Use Goodsearch instead of Google. It raises $ for non-profit groups, including environmental groups.
Click on the HungerSite twice a day (work and home). One of the groups works to preserve the rainforest.
Click on the Care2 site twice a day: rainforest, wetlands, animal habitat.

Stuff I haven't done/can't afford
go vegetarian
buy organic
sign up for paper recycling in my town
buy an energy-efficient car
quit drinking coffee. I can't afford shade-grown, fair-trade coffee.

Update
I couldn't post last week because the boss went on vacation and I was very busy and very very stressed. The weekend was a mixed bag. Went to one party that felt awkward. There's a lot of tension in that house. I don't feel like I was actually invited, and that bothers me too. They just tell the BF "Hey we're having a party, make sure you tell Robin." Also, one little girl said to me "Hey! You've got gray highlights!" (Note to self: time to touch up roots). :(

I had a better time at the other party, but I didn't feel good on Sunday. I've been off my meds for a week, and overdid it on the sugar at both parties. Now that I've got my script refilled, and cut back on sugar, hopefully I will feel better. All the problems are still there, but I should be able to handle them better.

You probably know that tomorrow is Arbor Day/Earth Day is tomorrow. What you might not know is that tomorrow is also Equal Pay Day. Coincidently, there is a law being voted on this week that aims to address this issue, H.R. 2831, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This legislation restores vital workplace protections for pay discrimination stripped away by the Supreme Court in Ledbetter v. Goodyear. The Ledbetter decision undermines our civil rights laws by denying protection to employees who have suffered years of discrimination, but didn't discover it within 180 days of its first occurrence. If this issue matters to you, contact your legislators.

Meme

( Meme from Crossbow1 )

Current Music: John Barrowman

Someone I know had been diagnosed with breast cancer. It's bad. She needs a mastectomy, chemo, and radiation. They found some cancer in four lymph nodes as well. Her last mammogram missed it somehow. Luckily, she has health insurance. I hope she won't have to fight them to get them to pay claims.

Ladies, don't forget your self-exams. You can help raise money for breast cancer screenings by clicking daily on the breast cancer site.

There is another clickthru here at Care2.org.

I don't know what to say when I see her. We're not close (not that I didn't try), but it's not like I can say I will pray for her or whatever. Anyone who knows me knows I don't pray. So what would you do?