Google lied to me.....

I have been visiting family in Boston. Really great time with little munchkins and their cousin B. Drive from Pittsburgh to Boston.....BTW, Google lied to me. They said the trip would only take 9hrs and 26 minutes. It actually took 13 hours. The hour of stops still left me with an extra 3 hours of trip time that Google lied to me about. Shame on you Google.

Antibloggedy

Touched

I wanted so badly to tell you all about this amazing moment I had a few weeks back. My life was touched by the action of others. I will start with a picture:

Her name is Sophia.



On September 24th, 2009 we received a knock on our side door. It was a friend of ours Dave. He said he had run into a couple of bike riders from NY and that he invited them to come to our house for a nice bonfire in the city. We have a great view and a cozy backyard with plenty of seating. So this became an impromptu gathering of friends to welcome two strangers. When they arrived it was just a nice sit down and chatting, then they told us the story of Sophia.

"Sophia has Spinal Muscular Atrophy"

What is this we asked?

In her case she has a form of SMA that is diagnosed to be terminal in the first 2 years of her life.

They are riding from NY to California to raise money for a clinical trial being done in California. As they ride for a cure for Sophia they are also sending off Ryan as he readies himself for the Marine Corp which he reports to in November.

These two are making an impact in the lives of this family and their friends and ultimately have shared with us their experience and their journey. I am touched and inspired.

I didn't know anything about this disease, I had never heard of it before this encounter.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a motor neuron disease. The motor neurons affect the voluntary muscles that are used for activities such as crawling, walking, head and neck control, and swallowing. It is a relatively common "rare disorder": approximately 1 in 6000 babies born are affected, and about 1 in 40 people are genetic carriers.

SMA affects muscles throughout the body, although the proximal muscles (those closest to the trunk of one’s body - i.e. shoulders, hips, and back) are often most severely affected. Weakness in the legs is generally greater than in the arms. Sometimes feeding and swallowing can be affected. Involvement of respiratory muscles (muscles involved in breathing and coughing) can lead to an increased tendency for pneumonia and other lung problems. Sensation and the ability to feel are not affected. Intellectual activity is normal and it is often observed that patients with SMA are unusually bright and sociable. Patients are generally grouped into one of four categories, based on certain key motor function milestones.

Sophias Story can be read here: http://sophiascure.com

The journey of the two riders can be read here: or linked to through the main site above. I wanted to write this to ask to spread the word. Maybe someone can help them more than the few dollars I have to offer, Maybe I can spread the word to those who stop by here. Maybe by writing this someone will become inspired to say something to others that can make a difference and Maybe, just Maybe they can find a cure for Sophia.

Ryan and Dennis, May you find a grand adventure on your journey to California!

Antibloggedy

Wordless Wednesday

I finally have something to contribute to Wordless Wednesday!










Yes, that is MY hand! =)

GOOD MORNING

Giuseppe's Homemade Eggplant Parmesan

Decided to make this, and decided to follow this guys tutorial. =) I myself am lucky to have bought "C" a Mandolin for xmas one year....however, I decided to cut it up with a knife. I was always too intimidated by the awesome eggplant, as it doesn't resemble anything we ever made when I was a kid. It was extremely easy, and it was totally Yum. I would like you to enjoy the fantastic editing and music used in this video. =) No matter what the food it delicious!




Next I need to work on my cooking of the Butternut Squash. I hear you need to skin it, cube it and roast it. What is your suggestions for this dynamic gourd. I am used to seeing gourds dried out and made into some sort of musical instrument, like the "ipu":

Maybe you have a really great recipe also, let me know what it is.

I would show you the yummy result of my eggplant cooking, but we ate the evidence with friends before I remembered to document it. =) Haha, it really was yummy.

Antibloggedy

How do you like the new header? =)

Rant: I have to get something off my chest....

I am an avid reader of The New York Times. Mostly I try to inform myself on the world news from them and keep up on some politics. I am not the most informed person, but feel as though I am not a misinformed one. Today there was a topic of discussion regarding the loss being felt in families involved in IVF and other forms of Infertility treatment. First off, I must say that I will not voice my direct opinions here regarding Infertility, Reductions, Abortion, or other strongly viewed topics. It is not the place for that. What I do want to mention is that in reading the article a family was mentioned and along with the name of the family was the announcement that they have a blog. Through a form of infertility treatments this family found themselves with 6 formed fetuses. The doctors recommendation was to reduce the numbers of fetuses through selective reduction and allow a more probable full term for those selected to remain. Now again, I am not stating this to debate here any of the many debatable issues raised, I am sincere in that. The family lost 3 of their 6 children after preterm labor. Had the funeral for these children, and then found themselves on the NYT. They lost yet another child yesterday and so the debate began....sadly it began on the blog of the mothers announcement that she shared with her readers that little Ashlyn had lost her fight with Yeast Pneumonia.

Here is my angst. I feel so disgusted with people that find it is an appropriate place to make statements of "look what you've done" and "this is all your fault" and "Are you happy now" or "you just want to be on Reality TV". The Stansel family is grieving for their four young children and I find it appauling that this is the moment someone feels inclined to throw their grief in their faces. Of course ALL of the negative comments came anonymously with no allowable way of responding to them. This I feel makes for cowardice actions. If you can so proudly speak your views then why hide them from the public on who is saying them?

Why do people feel as though through anonymoty it is okay to voice inappropriate comments to anyone. What if this were your own family, your friends or yourself.

Regardless of my own views I stopped by to give the family my condollences as they grieve a great loss. There is no question that this family loved these children. They were not specimens to them with letter designations of Baby "A" "B" "C"....and so on. They had names, hearts, a family, a mother, father and siblings.

In Blog land, I think it would be nice to realize that there should still be respect for each other, each others views, and realize that this still falls under social protocol. You don't have to agree with those that you pass, but that doesn't mean "free for all" to tear them to the smallest pieces. Arguments can be made intelligently and with great respect for others. If you wouldn't say it directly to someone face to face, then don't say it at all.

Thats my Rant,
Sorry if I offended anyone, I just needed to get this off my chest.

Squeel! We have a winner!

I want to say thank you for the visitors this last week, also for those of you that have stopped by over the last year.....can you believe it, I correspond with some of you more than I do some family and friends. That reminds me, I have to call my grandma!

So here is the winner:

You may recognize her from my sidebar. I am so excited she is a winner! yippey!
A Duck in Her Pond is a fantastically unique blog that includes stories and happenings from the published writer Miranda Koerner. I stop by there to read such neverending stories as Twirl, The Old House on Elm Street, The Gift and The Coconut Queen. But that's not all! She writes of Waffles, Peanut Butter and Ribs...BBQ that is! She is worth the follow. So props to her win, and I humbly will send her the prize wondering if she will use it to warm her Bitty and Bear during the cold winter months after they have a long day of adventures. Congratulations Queen of the Pond, you deserve it!

Antibloggedy

My email address to give me the place to mail it is antibloggedy (at) gmail (dot) com I hear this is how you must put your contact email now as there are computer programs that seek out the email links on peoples pages and automatically use them to send spam (no, not the meat in the can!) and other non-interesting emails!

Sudoku Puzzle for you today....Get your Brain Muscles a work out.

Before you play, If you wanna win the rice warming pad, go Here and post a comment.

Giveaway A warming thought

I want to show my appreciation to my blog buddy readers and what better appreciation than the gift of warmth! Its a warming pad (homemade of course!).

Winner announced next week Monday 10/12/09. I will choose my winner randomly by scientific elimination (name on paper, placed in box, shaken around, kid pulls out name, winner announced) I am not fancy but it gets the job done. Promise to be fair.

Please Place your comment and say hello, that's all! Comments left on this post prior to Mondays drawing will be given an entry. One entry per blogger. =)

Heres the quick tutorial (by no means am I a pro):

(supplies I used) I used cotton Fabrics because they work best with mild heat.


8x4 approximate fabric cut of corduroy

9x5 approximate fabric cut of your choice patterned/plain fabric

Sewing Machine, Scissors, 1/2 cup-1 cup rice.

You can make this in any size, but as you make it bigger you will need more rice.

Step 1-3 Making the bag that holds the rice
Step One:
Make a fabric pocket to hold the rice. Take your corduroy or other cotton material, fold over and stitch close two of the three open sides. You should have one opening for the rice to be poured into.

Step Two:
With your pocket, fill the pocket with approx 1/2 cup to 1 cup rice so the pocket is filled less than half full. You don't want the bag to be filled all the way for several reasons.
A> You want the bag to lay flat and the rice should be able to extend throughout so it is comfortable and as flat as possible
B> Your bag will distribute a better heat source when it is not as full, providing you with more comfort and using less time in the microwave.

Step Three:
Stitch your sides closed. I make sure to do a double stitch (meaning I used the reverse setting on my sewing machine and go back over my first line of stitching). There might be a sewing technical term for this, but I don't know it the way pro's know it, I guess.

Step 4-5 Making the "pillow case":
*NOTE: The pillow case is there to provide a washable cover.*

Step Four:
Take your 9x5 cotton Fabric (use your favorite pattern or plain color for design). You will stitch on all four sides to create a hem.

Step Five: Fold over the two sides to where they meet and have a slight overlap and stitch this on both sides so you create a case that has an opening for your heat pad.



You are done! All you have to do now is put your rice bag and place it in your pillow case!

For a mild moist heat, place this in the microwave for approximately 1 minute. DO NOT GET WET!!! The Moist heat is natural. Be careful, due to different microwaves you may need to increase this time or decrease this time. Please be careful not to make the bag to hot, because when you put it on your skin it could be too hot! (you know all that It's common sense stuff)....here is more: Don't place this on young children...Use COMMON SENSE! Make sure it is not TOO HOT! let cool down if you think it is too hot, before use.

For me, the bag creates a perfectly nice warm heat that feels great on my muscles after a tense day with the kids.

Another Use:
AT ROOM TEMPERATURE/DO NOT HEAT You can use to make a weighted eye and forehead mask that creates that small amount of pressure. For this you would need to play around with the size of the pocket and the amount of rice. If you have basic sewing skills, then you should be able to do this in no time!