text:
1982 Uncodified Acts
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1982 Virginia Uncodified Acts
Commissions, Boards and Institutions
Chapter 42 (H 207)
An Act relating to the establishment of the Mecklenburg-Brunswick Airport Commission, the amended sections relating to commission memberships, funds, and contracts
Counties, Cities and Towns
Chapter 286 (S 367)
An Act to authorize the governing body of King and Queen County to abandon a certain landing on the Mattaponi River
An Act to create a Program on Food and Nutrition within the College of Home Economics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Chapter 352 (H 631)
An Act to authorize and encourage the Counties of Bedford and Campbell to pursue a course of action leading to the incorporation of the historic New London Academy into the school division of Bedford County
An Act to prescribe the standards of quality for the several school divisions for the 1982-1984 biennium and to repeal Chapter 667 of the Acts of Assembly of 1980 and Chapter 553 of the Acts of Assembly of 1981, relating to the standards of quality for the several school divisions for the 1980-1982 biennium
An Act to authorize the issuance of Commonwealth of Virginia Higher Educational Institutions Bonds for paying the cost of acquiring, constructing and equipping revenue-producing capital projects at institutions of higher learning of the Commonwealth
Chapter 26 (S 135)
An Act to authorize the board of supervisors of Albemarle County to call for a vote to authorize the county to enter into a proposed agreement with the City of Charlottesville for the sharing of tax revenues
An Act to provide for certain primary elections in September, 1982
An Act to provide alternatives for scheduling the election of members of the governing bodies in certain cities
Game, Inland Fisheries and Domestic Animals
Chapter 2 (S 121)
An act relating to hunting and trapping raccoon in the County of Essex
An Act relating to the gigging of fish in Russell County
An Act to authorize the governing body of the Town of Blackstone to call for a vote in the town on adoption of an ordinance to prohibit dogs running at large or to require their confinement
An Act to authorize the Board of Supervisors of Pulaski County to call for an advisory vote in the county on adoption of an ordinance to restrict dogs from running at large
An Act relating to a moratorium on the issuance of certificates of need for nursing homes
An Act extending the moratorium on the issuance of certain certificates-of-need for nursing homes and requiring an additional report from the Commissioner of Health
An Act to establish the Alzheimer's and Related Diseases Research Award Fund
An Act to create the Buchanan County Housing Development Corporation to provide housing for low and moderate income persons and others in Buchanan County
Professions and Occupations
An Act establishing eligibility requirements for certain candidates to take the state bar examination
Property and Conveyances
An Act authorizing the University of Virginia to sell a portion of the Blue Ridge Hospital Division property
An Act to authorize the Department of Corrections to grant access to certain sewage treatment facilities to the County of Buckingham and to prescribe conditions therefor
Chapter 140 (S 56)
An Act authorizing the Governor to convey certain real estate to the Town of Chincoteague
An Act to authorize and empower the Marine Resources Commission to grant to Dominion Terminal Associates and to Massey Coal Terminal Corporation certain easements for the use of certain subaqueous and filled lands in the James River in the City of Newport News, Virginia
An Act to authorize and empower the Marine Resources Commission to grant to Anne Wirtz Vaughan and owners of Lots 18, 19 and 20, Block C, Section I, Remlik Hall subdivision a certain easement for use of certain filled lands in Robinson Creek, Middlesex County, Virginia
An Act authorizing the Governor to convey certain real estate to the Visitors of Old Dominion University
An Act to authorize and empower the Marine Resources Commission to grant to James M. Crumpler and Alease Knight Crumpler a certain easement for use of certain filled lands in Robinson Creek, Middlesex County, Virginia
An Act authorizing the Governor to convey certain real estate to Charles City County
An Act to amend Chapter 44 of the Acts of Assembly of 1799, which provided for the incorporation of a library company for the Town of Alexandria, by adding sections numbered 4A, 4B and 4C to provide exemption status under the Internal Revenue Code
An Act to authorize the Department of Taxation to distribute payments received from the Tennessee Valley Authority in lieu of taxes to certain localities
Transportation, Highways, Roads and Bridges
An Act to amend and reenact Section 1 of Chapter 57 of the Acts of Assembly of 1980, which designated a portion of U.S. Route 50 as the "John S. Mosby Highway"


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Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is a 2002 3D platforming game developed by Krome Studios and published by EA Games for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox systems. The game was remastered in HD for Microsoft Windows and was made available through Steam in 2016. A remastered version was also developed for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The Nintendo Switch version released in North America in March 2020, and in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand the following month. The PlayStation 4 version was released on 25 July 2020. The Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S version was released on 14 October 2020.

The first installment in the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series, the game is set on a fictional Australian island and follows the titular character Ty as he searches for "Thunder Eggs" to power a machine to locate five scattered talismans and free his family, who are trapped in an alternate realm known as "The Dreaming" by the series antagonist Boss Cass, a cassowary plotting world domination. Development of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger began in 2000 with five developers from Krome Studios. The development team was later expanded to 45 people. For the levels in the game, the developers got inspiration from the Australian Outback.

The game was initially revealed in 2002 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo convention in Los Angeles, California. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger received mixed reviews from critics. The game sold over one million copies worldwide. Three sequels were produced: Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan and Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4.

Gameplay
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is a platform game in which the player controls Ty, a Tasmanian tiger, who must gather mystical artifacts known as "Thunder Eggs" in order to power the Talisman Machine, a teleportation device that will locate five mystical talismans which will in turn have the power to free his family from the Dreaming, which an evil character named Boss Cass opened to seal all mammals. The game takes place in "Rainbow Cliffs", which is divided into a series of "zones", each of which act as the hub areas of the game. Each zone contains three portals which lead to a level, similar to Crash Bandicoot. The goal of each level is to obtain Thunder Eggs, which can be retrieved by either performing a certain task, completing a "Time Attack" challenge that can be unlocked upon a level's completion, freeing five bilbies (a group of animals who raised Ty after his parents were imprisoned), or by being found alongside the level's set path. A level is cleared either by collecting a select number of Thunder Eggs and reaching the end of the path, or beating certain mini-games, each will return Ty to Rainbow Cliffs. Retrieving a Thunder Egg in a level will cause it to appear on the game's pause menu. When at least 17 Thunder Eggs in a zone are obtained, the player navigates their way to the Talisman Machine; after the machine manages to locate a talisman, it opens another portal leading to their original locations; inside these portals, the player must fight and defeat a boss before gaining access to a new zone.

The player is given a certain number of lives, which are usually lost when Ty is attacked by an enemy or falls from a great distance. The game ends when lives are lost, although the player can continue from the last level played. Ty has the ability to jump into the air and uses both biting and throwing his trademark dual boomerangs as his primary means of defense. The player begins the game with two wooden boomerangs, but can gradually increase their collection by finding secret areas, or collecting 15 "Golden Cogs" scattered throughout each level and trading them to Ty's scientist koala friend Julius, who creates a new "techno-rang" for the player to use. Another method of retrieving a new boomerang is to complete a boss level, after which Julius will harness the excess energy of the Talisman Machine in order to create a new "elemental boomerang", each of which possess elemental powers that can be used to gain access to a new zone. Like elemental-rangs, each techno-rang possesses a unique ability, and can alternatively be used to defeat enemies or retrieve Golden Cogs or Thunder Eggs more efficiently. In early levels of the game, Ty can swim via doggie paddle; however, following the third level, "Ship Rex", the player gains the ability to swim faster and more efficiently as well as dive underwater from lifeguard platypus character Rex; in addition, Rex gives the player "Aquarangs", boomerangs used exclusively for attacking underwater.

Plot
In Australia, the evil cassowary, Boss Cass, enters the Outback to steal the 5 mystical talismans so he can become the country's ruler, but is confronted by a family of boomerang-wielding Tasmanian tigers and they fight for control of the talismans. When Cass opens a portal to the Dreaming to imprison the tigers, Ty's father throws his Doomarang to dislodge the talismans, destroying the portal and scattering the talismans. Having become the last of his kind, Ty is adopted as an orphan by the bilbies. Several years later, Ty inadvertently falls into a cave while playing with the bilbies and encounters the Bunyip elder Nandu Gili, who informs him about his true heritage and Cass's plans to obtain the talismans again. Ty resolves to finding the missing talismans, rescue his family and defeat Cass. He is aided in his mission by Maurice, his cockatoo friend.

At Bli-Bli Station, Ty befriends Julius, a koala scientist who has invented a device that will find the Talismans. Because Thunder Eggs are required to power the device, Ty must find the Thunder Eggs by visiting portals to other worlds. With Maurie's help, Ty finds a second boomerang at a billabong. At a rainforest, he helps save his dingo girlfriend, Shazza, and helps Ranger Ken by clearing the bats out of a cave, as well as learning to swim from the lifeguard Rex and find a wrecked ship on a tropical island. When Julius finds the first talisman, Ty encounters Bull, a boar. He tames Bull by luring him into the rocks and rescues the first talisman. At Julius' laboratory, Ty learns that Julius has developed elemental boomerangs by diverting the excess energy from the Fire Thunder Eggs through his Hyper Techno Boomerang Maker.

Ty makes his way through Pippy Beach by using his Flamerangs. He uses Bull to travel around the outback and helps Shazza and Ken once more. Ty also befriends Dennis, a cowardly green tree frog, and helps him get to his home by lighting up the path along the way with his Flamerangs. In the Snowy Mountains, he also rescues a group of koala children who are lost in the snow. As Julius finds the second talisman, Cass stations another one of his henchmen, the mechanical shark Crikey, to intercept Ty. Ty jumps across a group of platforms and, after using the oxygen tanks, defeats Crikey. Using the remaining energy from the ice Thunder Eggs, Julius constructs a new set of boomerangs for Ty, the "Frostyrangs".

Ty puts out a group of bushfires using the Frostyrangs and enters Lake Burril. Having discovered that Ty is the one collecting the talismans and Thunder Eggs, Cass deploys Sly, another one of his high-ranking henchmen and fellow Tasmanian Tiger, to eliminate him. As Ty makes his way through another rain forest (while being continually misguided by a lyrebird named Lenny), he confronts and defeats Sly inside the rainforest's factory. Ty later saves the koala children again and puts out more bushfires on a snowy mountain, as well as passing through a group of tropical islands. When the third talisman is located, Ty finds and battles a female thorny devil (later revealed to be Fluffy), another of Cass's henchmen. Despite attacking with her giant mechanical Yeti, Ty manages defeats her and acquires the third talisman. Julius then constructs mighty "Thunderangs" from the excess Thunder Egg energy, giving the new boomerangs to Ty.

After gathering enough golden cogs and Thunder Eggs, as well as being told that the last two talismans are presumably in Cass's possession, Ty enters a rainforest leading to Cass's lair while avoiding booby traps and Cass's minions. Inside the lair, Ty encounters Shazza again. Cass has another of his henchmen, Shadow the bat, capture Shazza. Ty defeats Shadow, rescues Shazza, and acquires the fourth talisman. After another confrontation with Sly, Ty defeats him and rescues him from falling into a pit of lava, but Sly vows to exact revenge. Ty finds Boss Cass and his massive robot, the Neo Fluffy X, and the two battle. Using his father's Doomarang given to him by Sly, Ty destroys the robot and sends Cass falling out of the sky. After giving the Bunyip elder the last talisman, his parents arrive from the Dreaming.

Development
Development of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger began in December 2000, originally consisting of five developers at Krome Studios. The development team was later expanded to 40 people and also included a quality assurance team of 15 members. In designing the 16 large levels, the team drew inspiration from the Australian landscapes. According to designer John Passfield, he said that his favorite boomerang in the game was the Kaboomerang. The team also implemented real time lighting effects, and Passfield cited that it "affects Ty [throughout the game] and changes the direction of his shadow, plus the world reflects in ice cubes and shiny surfaces" and he also loved the animation system used in the game. He also cited that he was proud of the "Emergent Game Play" system used throughout the game, and said that "during focus testing [of the game] it was great when players had 'stumbled across' a new way to solve a problem".

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger was first announced by Electronic Arts on 10 May 2002, and the game was later unveiled at the 2002 Electronic Entertainment Expo convention to positive response. On 17 July 2002, Electronic Arts announced that the game would also be developed for the Xbox.

Reception

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Matthew Gallant of GameSpot concluded that the game is "great for younger players and can provide a satisfying experience for teens and adults as long as they don't mind their replay value coming from finding every last collectible in the game." In reviewing the PlayStation 2 version of the game, Jeremy Dunham and Kaiser Hwang of IGN concluded that the game is "a Crash Bandicoot clone through and through" and also said that "Krome Studios own attempt at platforming is still enough to warrant a purchase from diehard genre fans." In a review of the Xbox version, Hwang said that it "makes no effort in hiding its influences" and that the game "is a Mario clone through and through, just done really well."

The gameplay received mixed responses. Kaiser Hwang commented that the game "borrows heavily from the Mario series." However he complained that one of the "irritating things about the game is that every time you start your game and begin a level, the game insists on showing you the same cutscene and voiceover." He also said that the game has "clever puzzles, and the levels have a good variety to them." Kilo Watt of GamePro said that controlling Ty is "a bit cumbersome with jumping being particularly tough to get a handle on." He also cited the camera angles as problematic, as well as detecting collisions in the game.

The game sold over one million copies worldwide. The PlayStation 2 version of the game was re-released for the Greatest Hits budget lineup in 2003.

Legacy
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger was followed by two sequels, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue and Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan, for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Game Boy Advance and developed by Krome Studios. In May 2005, Activision and Krome Studios signed a co-publishing agreement for the third installment of the series: Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan. It was released in October the next year.

On 27 July 2012, Krome announced plans for a new Ty The Tasmanian Tiger game to be developed for the iOS to coincide with the series's 10th anniversary, this game was revealed to be Ty the Tasmanian Tiger: Boomerang Blast, released late 2012. On 11 March 2013, Krome Studios announced a 2D Ty title to be released on 24 July 2013 on Xbox Games for Windows 8 PC and/or Tablet. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 was originally released on Xbox Games for Windows 8 PC and tablets titled Ty the Tasmanian Tiger in 2013 then ported to Steam for Microsoft Windows as Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 in 2015. It was released on 18 September 2015.

Krome Studios organized a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for a remastered version of the original game titled Ty the Tasmanian Tiger HD. It was released on the Nintendo Switch in North America, available from the Nintendo eShop on 31 March 2020. It was released in Europe on 3 April and in Australia and New Zealand on 4 April. It was also released for the PlayStation 4 on 25 July 2020 and for the Xbox One on 14 October 2020. It was announced to be playable on the upcoming Xbox Series X/S as well.

A physical version of the remaster was released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on 15 October 2021. A special edition for Nintendo Switch containing Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue HD was released on the same day.

Canceled television series
It was announced in 2004 that Film Roman and Krome Studios was developing an animated series based on the video game series. No further reports, however, have been made since then, and the project is believed to be cancelled.

Notes

References

External links
 Krome Studios official website

 Krome Studios' Ty the Tasmanian Tiger webpage

2002 video games
3D platform games
Anthropomorphic video game characters
Electronic Arts games
GameCube games
Krome Studios games
Nintendo Switch games
PlayStation 2 games
PlayStation 4 games
Steampunk video games
Video games developed in Australia
Video games set in Australia
Windows games
Xbox games
Xbox One games
Single-player video games

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Offsite Forums
Is there too much focus on high-speed rail at the expense of better urban networks?
By Mark Bladwell10/09/2018Infrastructure
"When thinking about building another rail line, or another road, or another piece of the electricity grid, you need to consider what it means for the networks. Individual pieces of the network must work for one another," says Sir Rod Eddington, a keynote speaker at the upcoming Australian Engineering Conference.
Transportation is one of the big-ticket items in Australia's $100 billion public infrastructure pipeline. Data from industry research and forecasting consultancy Macromonitor predicts the annual spend on road and rail projects alone will reach $16 billion by 2020, and the Federal Government's latest budget included a $75 billion allocation for significant transport infrastructure projects over the next decade.
This is all welcome news for Sir Rod Eddington, former chairman of government body Infrastructure Australia, who believes the liveability of our cities rests upon smart transport infrastructure. Eddington will share his views on the future of our cities at this year's Australian Engineering Conference, where he will be interviewed by WA Scientist of the Year Peter Newman, whom he worked with at Infrastructure Australia.
"Cities are seen as more attractive places to live for a whole series of reasons, despite the challenges that living in them brings: the cost of housing, congestion, availability of services, commutability," Eddington said.
"The bottom line is, we didn't invest in our rail networks for a long time. As the cities get bigger and more congested, the best way to move large numbers of people down narrow corridors is rail."
Eddington is considered a leading expert in infrastructure. A non-executive chairman at J.P. Morgan, he studied engineering at the University of Western Australia and completed a Rhodes Scholarship before beginning a career in transport and aviation in 1979. He went on to become CEO of Cathay Pacific, Ansett Airlines and British Airways.
When it comes to transport infrastructure, Eddington stresses a need to be "modally agnostic". In 2006, he completed a study for the British Government on the links between transport and the economy. He wrote a similar independent report for the Victorian Government in 2008, which identified a need for a major city road tunnel, an underground rail link and a new western suburbs rail line for Melbourne.
"I'm not suggesting road is a better solution than rail, but in terms of relieving congestion in big cities, investment in the right rail networks is fundamental," he said.
"As the motor car arrived, rail patronage either stalled or fell a bit and, as a result, we took our eye off the rail ball particularly. Roads are an important part of the jigsaw too, but inner cities only work if you have the right rail network as well as the right road network. When cities get to about the size of where Melbourne is now, you need an urban rail network to compliment the suburban rail network. The state of Victoria is beginning to build the first of what it calls its metro lines."
A reason for high-speed rail?
While rail infrastructure was a significant feature of the latest Federal Budget, including $1.1 billion for Perth's Metronet, $475 million for Melbourne's Monash rail connection and $220 million for Adelaide's Gawler rail line electrification, Australia is yet to get on track with the high-speed variety. Indeed, Eddington questions the role of high-speed rail between centres such as Sydney and Melbourne.
"What would that do to help people to get into work in Melbourne or Sydney from the suburbs any quicker?," he asked.
"How much would it cost and what else could you do with rail networks for the money? If the major challenges are around city congestion and getting people to move freely and easily around the city, then that's where the spend should go.
"There might be different rail projects that have merit [and] you have to look at all of them and then decide where you're going to allocate capital. Are you going to invest in all the rail networks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane? What about improved rural and regional rail?
"What about better rail networks to our ports and our airports? You just can't jump on a solution [such as] a high-speed rail between Sydney and Melbourne and think that's a good idea, because you need to look at the alternative spends and the alternative needs. Nobody says they can't get from Sydney to Melbourne, but what they do say is 'I can't get on a train from the suburbs of Melbourne into work in the morning'."
This topic is sure to make for interesting conversation at this year's Australian Engineering Conference, when Eddington takes to the stage with Newman, a proponent of high-speed rail. Eddington is certainly up for the debate.
"You need to think about infrastructure in the context of networks, not in the context of single pieces of the jigsaw," he said.
"When thinking about building another rail line, or another road, or another piece of the electricity grid, you need to consider what it means for the networks. Individual pieces of the network must work for one another."
Sir Rod Eddington will be speaking about advancing Australia's urban liveability, workability and sustainability at the Australian Engineering Conference 17-19 September in Sydney. To register, click here.
Outcomes vs output: Why engineers should ask 'why' more often
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Now he looked directly at me, and I could see the anguish in his eyes. It felt like a dagger in my gut. My own eyes got moist.
"You go off to work and you build your little kingdom," he said, "and you lose track of what matters." He blinked hard. "I don't want you to lose track, Adam. Not ever."
Goddard looked smaller, and wizened, and a hundred years old. "He was lying on his bed covered in drool and piss like an infant, and I cradled him in my arms just like he was a baby. Do you know what it's like seeing your child in a coffin?" he whispered. I felt goose bumps, and I had to look away from him. "I thought I'd never go back to work. I thought I'd never get over it. Margaret says I never have. For almost two months I stayed home. I couldn't figure out the reason I was alive anymore. Something like this happens and you—you question the value of everything."
He seemed to remember he had a handkerchief in his pocket, and he pulled it out, mopped his face. "Ah, look at me," he said with a deep sigh, and unexpectedly he sort of chuckled. "Look at the old fool. When I was your age I imagined that when I got to be as old as I am now I'd have discovered the meaning of life." He smiled sadly. "And I'm no closer now to knowing the meaning of life than I ever was. Oh, I know what it's not about. By process of elimination. I had to lose a son to learn that. You get your big house and your fancy car, and maybe they put you on the cover of Fortune magazine, and you think you've got it all figured out, right? Until God sends you a little telegram saying, 'Oh, forgot to mention, none of that means a thing. And everyone you love on this earth—they're really just on loan, you see. And you'd better love 'em while you can.' " A tear rolled slowly down his cheek. "To this day I ask myself, did I ever know Elijah? Maybe not. I thought I did. I do know I loved him, more than I ever thought I could love someone. But did I really know my boy? I couldn't tell you." He shook his head slowly, and I could see him begin to take hold of himself. "Your dad's goddamned lucky, whoever he is, so goddamned lucky, and he'll never know it. He's got a son like you, a son who's still with him. I know he's got to be proud of you."
"I'm not so sure of that," I said softly.
"Oh, I am," Goddard said. "Because I know I'd be."


September 23, 2014 /0 Comments/in Dance /by Suzy S.
Good dancers can make even the most complicated, strenuous techniques look effortless and fluid. If you've ever watched an experienced dancer perform a tap routine, you probably watched in disbelief as their feet turned into a blur of movement that seemed to move independently from the rest of their body. Sometimes the sound effects are even more impressive; when done well, tap dance is a musical art form that creates its own rhythm.
Do you want to train your own feet to create this unique mixture of motion and music? The following four tap dance steps are simple but essential elements of all tap choreography.
The shuffle is one of the first tap dance steps you should learn. It's a combination of two moves that are even more basic: the brush and the strike. Start with the brush. Stand on one leg and bend the other, lifting your foot off the ground. Turn both feet out, without letting the raised foot touch the ground.
Now, perform a brush by swinging the foot forward. As it passes your standing foot, point it slightly so the ball quickly brushes against the floor. Don't let your heel touch the floor at all. Next, follow it with a strike. This is simply the same movement in reverse; swing your foot backwards instead of forwards.
In tap, there are several different ways to shift your weight from one foot to the other, but the ball change is by far the most common. In order to pull it off perfectly, make sure that only your toe tap–the smallest of your shoe's metal plates–makes any noise. First, stand with your feet side by side but not touching. Now lift your heels, so that only your the balls of your feet are in contact with the floor. Next, place your right foot behind you, and rock back onto the ball of it. As you do so, your left foot should completely leave the floor for a moment. Now switch feet and do the same thing, rocking your weight from one ball to the next.
These two steps are the opposite of one another, and when you perform them in a pair of tap shoes, they each produce two very distinct sounds. The first step you should try is the heel-step, because it mimics the natural progression of walking across the floor. The rules are very basic: when you place one foot in front of the other, bring the heel of your foot down first. You're still learning, so it's okay to exaggerate the movement and "stomp" your heel into the floor. Next, bring the ball of your foot down too. Repeat with the opposite foot, and continue until you've moved forward several feet.
The step-heel is just the reverse, so the ball of your foot should come down before your heel. This will come more naturally if you're used to wearing high heels. Make sure the ball of each foot makes full contact with the floor before the heel joins it; the more you arch your foot, the more force you'll need to complete each step.
The pickup is a stylized way to transition between steps. First, step down onto the ball of your right foot. Next, lift your left foot behind you and perform a shuffle, moving it forward and back again. When you return to your original position, hop onto the ball of the foot, placing it behind your right foot, and simultaneously lift your right foot into the air in front of you. Bend your right knee outward, so that your toe falls on the other side of your left foot.
If you enjoy learning and practicing these simple tap dance steps, why not take it a step further and work with a private dance teacher to improve your moves? There's only so much you can learn through online videos, so if you want to perform or compete as a tap dancer, find a dance instructor who can make sure you've mastered the basics. Eventually, you'll combine them into more advanced tap dance steps and learn how to truly make music with your feet. Enjoy!


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(USA/South Korea 2017)
"We needed a miracle, and then we got one."
—Lucy Mirando
Bong Joon-ho's Okja, now streaming on Netflix, is a lot of things; dull is not one of them. A slick, fast-paced, mesmerizing mix of fantasy, sci-fi, comedy, action, satire, and social consciousness, this film has a lot going on—and a lot going for it. I was lucky to see it on the big screen before its official release, and that's how I recommend seeing it if you can. Sorry, Netflix, Okja is simply too good for TV.
The story begins ten years ago in 2007: in a desperate but brilliant attempt to rebrand a disreputable family business—to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, so to speak—Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) announces her master plan to breed an all-natural "superpig" that leaves a minimal footprint, feeds the world, and tastes great (https://superpigproject.com). Her company, Mirando Corporation, devises a competition, sending twenty-some piglets to real farmers across the globe to raise them; the company will monitor each pig over the next ten years and declare a "winner" based on the results. Mirando hires animal television show host Dr. Johnny Wilcox (Jake Gyllenhaal), a zoologist whose star is fading, to lend credibility to the project as well as to generate public interest in it.
Fast forward to 2017: Mirando's plan is coming to fruition without any hiccups, which makes her happier than a pig in…well, you know. Unfortunately for Mirando, a young South Korean girl named Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), whose grandfather (Byun Hee-bong) signed onto the project, threatens to derail the entire mission. Mija, you see, essentially raised her grandfather's pig, Okja. They've become dependent on each other. He never explained to her what the deal really is—that Mirando's silk purse is nothing more than lipstick on a pig.
Dr. Johnny and his television crew show up at their home in the mountains and marvel over Okja, now a magnificently enormous hippopotamus-like creature. He presents her grandfather with an award and takes Okja to Manhattan—actually, New Jersey—for a pig roast sponsored by the Mirando Corporation.
To put it lightly, Mija's not having it—she takes off after Okja on a chaotic chase through Seoul, where she encounters the Animal Liberation Front, a group of inept animal rights activists led by idealistic but ineffective Jay (Paul Dano). They make a pact, but unfortunately she doesn't speak English. Mija ends up at the world headquarters of Mirando Corporation in New York City, completely unaware of the cards she holds.
I went into Okja blind—the only thing I knew about it was that its central character is a big pig. I left more than satisfied: the cast is stellar, the effects are flawless, and the script is smart and strong despite its flaws. If that don't beat a pig a-pecking, I don't know what does.
In simplest terms, Okja is about our complicated consumerist relationship with food. As one pig farmer put it best, "Okja's a fake pig in a movie I watched on Netflix. But plenty of real animals are suffering inside a horrific system that don't have to." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/okja-thoughts-from-a-pig-farmer_us_595bd1cde4b0f078efd98cbd). On this point alone, Okja will resonate with anyone who's ever connected with an animal—pig, dog, cat, bird, horse, aardvark. The story has been compared to E.T. (https://moviebloke.com/2016/03/29/e-t-the-extra-terrestrial-e-t/), and it's pretty wonderful. The final scene, which takes place in a slaughterhouse, is hard to watch—I got anxious. And queasy. I thought of Morrissey!
Appropriately, the acting is hammy; I love that Swinton plays twins again. She looks like a deranged Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. Gyllenhaal teeters on insufferable with his wimpy sniveling, but to his credit he manages to keep it in check. I'm usually unimpressed with computer animation, but here it's amazingly well done; Okja looks as real as the humans. I think the trick is her eyes. Even with its Hollywood ending, Okja is definitely one of this year's more interesting movies.
With Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Yoon Je-moon, Shirley Henderson, Daniel Henshall, Devon Bostick, Choi Woo-shik, Giancarlo Esposito
Production: Kate Street Picture Company, Lewis Pictures, Plan B Entertainment
Distribution: Netflix
(AMC River East) B
Posted in 2017, action, adventure, American, animated, B, comedy, dark comedy, drama, Dramedy, fantasy, June 2017, kids, Korean, satire, science fiction, South Korea, Summer 2017, suspense, thriller, USA	Tagged Ahn Seo-hyun, Animal Liberation Front, Bong Joon-Ho, Byun Hee-bong, Choi Woo-shik, Daniel Henshall, Devon Bostick, E.T., Giancarlo Esposito, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kate Street Picture Company, Lewis Pictures, Lily Collins, manhattan, Mirando Corporation, Morrissey, Netflix, New Jersey, New York City, Okja, paul dano, Plan B Entertainment, Pulp Fiction, Shirley Henderson, Steven Yeun, Tilda Swinton, Uma Thurman, Yoon Je-moon	1 Comment
The Handmaiden [Agassi]
Link posted on December 22, 2016 October 15, 2017 by moviebloke
(South Korea 2016)
"Where I come from, it's illegal to be naive."
—Sook-hee
I wasn't sure what to expect from Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden [아가씨], but I'm glad I got to see it. One word: wow! A sexy, complex, and intriguing film to say the least, it's a lavish visual and narrative cinematic experience. The trailer offers only a hint of what awaits.
Park wrote the screenplay, an adaptation of the 2002 novel Fingersmith by Welsh author Sarah Waters, with frequent collaborator Chung Seo-kyung. They change the setting from Victorian Era Britain to 1930s Korea when it was under Japanese colonial rule before the end of World War II. Confession: I did not read the book. The change is brilliant, though, resulting in something far more tense, exotic, and erotic than I imagine it would have been had they stuck to the original concept.
The Handmaiden is a cutthroat tale of power, sex, and deception in the same vein as Dangerous Liasons, though by no means is it the same story. The title refers to "Tamako" (Kim Tae-ri), a young common girl hired to serve as a maid to mysterious Japanese heiress Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee). Lady Hideko's authoritarian Uncle Kouzuki (Jo Jin-woong) runs the household, which has a crazy library of antique erotica and a basement used for punishment. The atmosphere is abusive and weird. So much so, in fact, that Lady Hideko's aunt committed suicide—and she still hears her voice at night.
WARNING: Potential spoilers ahead!
"Tamako" has a secret: she's really Sook-hee, a master pickpocket from a long line of con artists. Sook-hee is working with Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo), a dashing con man, on an elaborate scam to bilk Lady Hideko out of her fortune. Fujiwara, posing as a Count, is wooing Lady Hideko into marriage, after which he plans to commit her to her an insane asylum and take off with her money. Fujiwara has a secret, too: he's double dealing with Lady Hideko, who wants to get away from her uncle. Their plot involves getting married, cashing out her inheritance, and committing her illiterate maid under her name, after which Lady Hideko assumes the identity of "Tamako"—while keeping her money, of course.
The best-laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley, and nothing here is what it seems. Things get interesting and go another route when the two women's relationship takes a sexual turn, and they like it.
The Handmaiden is an example of near perfect execution. The beginning and end are a little slow, but what's in between is well worth the slightly draggy bookends. Divided into three parts, it tells the story from the different perpectives of the three scammers. We get more information with each part, and just when it looks like we know what's coming—bam!, the proverbial rug is pulled out from underneath and the narrative goes somewhere else. The characters are really complex, and the acting here is excellent. The sex scenes are sensual but often have a humorous undertone. Chung Chung-hoon's cinematography is rich and layered with thoughtful camerawork that adds a nice voyeuristic touch to the whole film, liberally using long shots and peeking through doors and around screens. This is a film you can easily get lost in.
(Gene Siskel Film Center) B+
http://www.handmaidenmovie.com/showtimes
Posted in 2016, B+, book, dark comedy, December 2016, drama, Korean, novel, sex, South Korea, suspense, thriller, Uncategorized	Tagged Agassi, Chung Chung-hoon, Chung Seo-kyung, Dangerous Liasons, Fingersmith, Ha Jung-woo, 아가씨, Japanese colonial rule, Jo Jin-woong, Kim Min-Hee, Kim Tae-ri, Korea, Park Chan-wook, Sarah Waters, The Handmaiden, Victorian Era Britain, World War II	Leave a comment
URGH! A Music War
Man of Aran
The Leisure Seeker… on Like Crazy [La pazza gioi…
Vertigo – movi… on Vertigo
The Brady Bunch Movi… on The Brady Bunch Movie
Cheryl Cooper on The Hitman's Bodyguard
Witness – movi… on Blade Runner: The Final C…
french canadian
indian-american


R.D. Laing is a tweedy and pleasant-faced Scot who avoids the lingual tricks of the mind-change trade. With his Scottish accent ("Ego" for example becomes Egg-o, as in the waffles) and with his Oxfordian good looks, he comes across more like a doyen of English literature rather than one of the most controversial practitioners of psychotherapy in Great Britain and the United States.
What is consciousness? It is what you are after you ask that question and are waiting for the answer.
Father never sold a single painting. He gave them away. He walked the streets in the early morning haze, avoiding crowds and lighted avenues, and handed his work to a face he admired.
What is it that we come out here to find? Is it just knowing that the old familiar faces will smile when they see us and our old friends will call to us to come sit at their campfires and talk and laugh and sing songs together? Maybe we expect to find some of the parts of our lives that have gone away.
I sat in Mrs. Mcintosh's first-grade class, a gap-toothed five-year-old. Mrs. Mcintosh wore her white hair pulled back in a bun as big as an apple. She assigned each of us a number according to the alphabetical order of our last names. My number was thirteen and I was secretly pleased with it.
I hate getting out of bed, especially to the alarm. If I can't trust my own erratic rhythms to tell me when to stop sleeping, then I feel I don't own my life.
To rise into love you must descend into your wounds.


text:
Some Social Media Stats That Even Surprised Us
By Jennifer Benz February 21, 2011 July 23, 2015
Illustration by Dreamstime.
People of all ages are turning to blogs, Twitter, online videos, and Facebook. The distinctions between age and gender among users are blurring as the web becomes the go-to place for everything from uploading family pictures to learning about health and wellness.
We're huge fans of social media, but the latest statistics even surprised us.
We couldn't help but share these stats from Pew, Epsilon, Royal Pingdom, and Banking 2020. The latest social media statistics speak to the continued evolution of not only the social media channels, but the users.
Social media use
Adults who are 74 and older quadrupled their social networking presence since 2008, making them the fastest growing demographic.
Older users saw a huge increase in the use of social media. In December 2008, 9 percent of users 55 to 64-years old used social networks. In May 2010, that number jumped to 43 percent.
The use of social networking continues to rise among younger users. In December 2008, 67 percent of users between the ages of 18 to 33 used social networking sites. In May 2010, 83 percent used it.
The percentage of all adult Internet users who watch video online jumped 14 points in the past two years, from 52 percent in May 2008 to 66 percent in May 2010.
As of May 2010, 53 percent of online adults have used a classified ads website such as Craigstlist, up from 32 percent in September 2007.
Some 51 percent of all online adults listen to music online, compared with 34 percent the last time Pew asked this question in June 2004.
Social media and health
40 percent of online consumers turn to social media for health information.
61 percent of people now use the Internet instead of visiting a doctor.
Blogs and microblogs
152 million blogs on the Internet.
25 billion tweets sent on Twitter in 2010.
100 million new accounts added on Twitter in 2010.
200 million people on Twitter as of January 2011.
600 million people on Facebook at the end of 2010.
250 million new people on Facebook in 2010.
30 billion pieces of content (links, notes, photos, etc.) shared on Facebook per month.
70 percent share of Facebook's user base located outside the United States.
20 million Facebook apps installed each day.
2 billion videos watched per day on YouTube.
35 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute.
The average Internet user watches 186 online videos in a month.
5 billion photos hosted by Flickr.
More than 3,000 Photos uploaded per minute to Flickr.
P.S. If you want to know how to use social media for your benefits communication, check out our Social Media Starter Kit, a Toolkit designed to guide you through these powerful tools.
Jennifer Benz
Jennifer Benz is Chief Strategist and Founder of Benz Communications, a San Francisco-based consultancy that focuses on custom, comprehensive benefits and HR communications services. Jen is an active member of the Council for Communication Management, the International Association of Business Communicators, the Northern California Human Resources Association and Women in Consulting. Contact her at jen@benzcommunications.com.
HR CommunicationsHR NewsHR TrendsOrganizational LeadershipSocial Media ManagementSocial Networking


text:
Zero Meridians
A number of locations around the world have operated as "prime meridians" (ie 0.0 degrees of Longitude) for the purpose of navigation and map making. The Greenwich version was eventually chosen as the agreed "Prime Meridian" for the World in 1884 at a conference in Washington. 3 of them exist within WHS boundaries with "markers" to identify them.
Connected Sites
Site Rationale Link
Maritime Greenwich Was established 1851 and set as the World's "Prime Meridian" in 1884. Its location is marked in a number of places within the site.
Paris, Banks of the Seine Paris was the main "competitor" to the choice of Greenwich at the Conference of Washington. France did not immediately accept the decision of that conference and continued to use the Paris line for some time thereafter. The line is based on the location of the Paris Observatory which is outside the inscribed area, but a line of markers called The Arago Medallions (named after a French astronomer) follows the line across Paris and The Louvre area (within the inscribed boundaries) contains a significant number.
St. Petersburg The "Pulkovo Meridian" was the base point for all geographical maps of Russia. It ran through the main hall of the Pulkovo Observatory.
Teide National Park Used as the zero-point for Graeco-Roman cartography (Nomin File Annex - "History of Science")
Do you know of another WHS we could connect to Zero Meridians?
A connection should:
Not be "self evident"
Link at least 3 different sites
Not duplicate or merely subdivide the "Category" assignment already identified on this site.
Add some knowledge or insight (whether significant or trivial!) about WHS for the users of this site
Be explained, with reference to a source


text:
One less light
Celebrating the life of Roger Sutherland
By Christian Hollis and Alexis Tucker
Editor-In-Chief and Managing Editor
Every time the words are heard, our hearts sink; minds fill with memories, and it is hard to accept that they have left us. A beloved member of Schoolcraft, Roger Sutherland, has left us.
He passed in the early morning of Feb. 11. The family will hold a memorial service for Roger Sutherland in the Sutherland room in the VisTaTech Center April 8 from 1 to 4 p.m.
Roger Sutherland worked for Schoolcraft from 1964 to 1990 as a biology professor, and was one of the first instructors to teach at Schoolcraft. He helped build the Biology Department.
In his late life, Southerland found a place within the SC Retiree Committee. Sutherland also introduced many to beekeeping, for which he devoted a great deal of time to.
Roger Sutherland will be dearly missed, but his legacy lives on at Schoolcraft. He was 88 years old.
Quintessential queens
Empty Bowl Fundraiser goes virtual
The essentials for perfection
Pause to save lives
Meeting the demand
Hail to the chief
Immortalized in plaid
Find the perfect fit


The age of the Candidates should be between 21 to 32 years.age limit relaxation will be given as per the Govt. rules.
Candidates should have qualification in this Recruitment they must have passed Nursing & Midwife/ B.Sc Nursing from any govt nursing school of Medical College for post no.1, HSE examination and shall have completed ANM Course for post no.2.
Rs.11770/-for post no.1, Rs.9020/- for post no.2.
Interested and Eligible Candidates may Apply in Prescribed Application form along with self attested Photocopies of relevent document Send to Chief District Medical Officer, Ganjam on or before 15-11-2015.
Last Date for Receipt of Applications: 15-11-2015.
The age of the Candidates should be between 21 to 32 years as on 01-01-2016.age limit relaxation will be given as per the Govt. rules.
Candidates should have qualification in this Recruitment they must have passed HSC examination and completed A.N.M. course from Institutions recognized by Government and approved by I.N.C. and must have registered under Odisha Nurshing Council. Must have passed Odia up to M.E. Standared and able to read, write and speak Odia.
Last Date for Receipt of Applications: 15-01-2016.
0 Response to "NRHM Balangir Odisha Recruitment 2016 merit list odisha anm"


Our Brattleboro client has 3 immediate temporary openings for a bright and motivated office professional! This position is responsible for working in a fast paced office, and provides support to Savings Department Representatives.
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text:
Q: Saving Dynamic Output when Closing I am using Dynamic to create a graph that continuously updates during a simulation. This allows my students to visually (1) confirm that the simulation is working and (2) to judge when the simulation has reached steady state. This all works fine. The problem is that the graphical output is not saved when the file is closed, which makes it more difficult for me (and the grader) to understand what was done.
As a simple example, consider the following code that outputs a sine wave with a time-varying phase:
phase = 0.0;
trigger = 0;
DynamicModule[{}, Dynamic[(trigger;
   ListPlot[Table[Sin[x + phase], {x, 0, 2 Pi, 0.05}],
    Joined -> True]), TrackedSymbols :> {trigger}]]
While[True,
 phase += Pi/100.;
 Pause[0.01];
 trigger++
 ]

When this file is saved and reopened without quitting Mathematica, everything is fine — I see the plot at the last plotted phase. If I quit Mathematica (or the kernel), then reopen the file, I see a blank graph.
The actual problem is, of course, more complicated than this and involves plotting a Table of atomic positions.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Rang-e-Rekhta Festival: Chandigarh people cherish noted poets coming together to promote Urdu music
It was a cherishable evening for Chandigarh as it got the opportunity to witness a unique show.
Written by Parul | Chandigarh |
August 28, 2016 4:19:25 am
Sabri Brothers perform during a festival at Tagore Theatre in Chandigarh on Saturday. Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh
THE sound of qawwali and the beauty of poetry transcended many barriers of language and grammar at the 'Rang-e-Rekhta', hosted by the Rekhta Foundation Saturday evening at the Tagore Theatre. The event, an effort to promote Urdu, is a tribute to the language, its timelessness, richness and versatility. 'Rang-e-Rekhta' is an extension of Rekhta Foundation's festival Jashn-e-Rekhta: Celebrating Urdu, which is held in Delhi annually and celebrates the spirit and eloquence of Urdu language, literature, art and culture.
It was a cherishable evening for Chandigarh as it got the opportunity to witness a unique show. There was a buzz in the house and the poets and organisers were overwhelmed by the response of Chandigarh towards the effort. "From the entire Urdu world, I want to thank Rekhta Foundation for reviving the Urdu mushaira. This is such a resounding welcome a language, something I have fought for my entire life," said renowned poet Prof Waseem Barelvi, as he presented some of his best to the audience.
Some of the country's most distinguished poets- Farhat Ehsas, Manish Shukla, Shams Tabreezi – set the mood for the evening, as verse by verse, they expressed the beauty of the language and their thoughts and emotions. Love, loneliness, the many wonders of nature, conflicts, the universe and its many facets came alive in the language that exudes beauty and delicacy. One of the highlights of the mushaira was the energy and poetry of 92-year-old Pundit Gulzar Dehlavi, one of the living exponents of Urdu and Persian poetry, who says it with pride and joy, "Urdu zabaan meri jaagir hai." For someone who thinks, speaks, expresses in Urdu, Dehlavi believes that the language can bridge many barriers. "It was at the age of 8 that I began writing poetry, and the language has been part of my being. My father was a scholar, who taught Urdu and Persian. I wrote inqualaabi poetry, against the British and was part of the movement for freedom. I minced no words, and was not afraid of anyone, as my verses challenged the British, their policies and their rule. Aruna Asif Ali loved my nerve and I began to be a part of every jalsa of the Congress, with Pandit Nehru appreciating the purity of my language, and I even read out one of my creations on Independence Day in 1947, at the Ramlila Ground and dedicated the poem to the youth of the country," Dehlavi said as he went down memory lane and recited some of his poems.
Urdu, he rues, did not get the deserved attention it needed for its promotion after Independence. He recalls how with the support of Maulana Azad, he took out a science magazine in Urdu in 1975, 'Science Ki Duniya'. The poet writes two hours daily, attending mushairas across the country, and his poetry today speaks of love, romance, beauty, relationships. "Not many want to hear classical poetry. If you want to keep Urdu alive, you have to keep the common people in mind. No one can be alienated. But even today, I speak my mind, against communal hatred and separatist policies. But yes, we need to be aware of cultural and language degradation," adds the poet, in his trademark Indian topi and larger than life attitude.
Dehlavi is concerned about the fact that the Urdu script is dying, "It's the soul of the language, we need to keep it alive, and such platforms give the language a new lease of life." As the audience requested for more, one of the poets aptly remarked, "mushaira kabhi khatam nahin hota." So, poetry encompasses us in varied ways.
Soothing the soul, spreading the language of peace and love, the Sari Brothers from Rajasthan mesmerized the audience with their powerful qawwalis. "The great Sufis have blessed us, and our music has both Persian and Indian influences," smiled Farid and Amin Sabri, who learnt qawalli from their maternal grandfather and father, and have been singing since the age of ten. Qawalli, they say is a form that takes us closer to the divine, and is a spiritual experience, transcending the boundaries of language and geography. "We have performed all over the globe, and audiences love the form of music. And now, technology helps them translate what we are singing as music has no language. Through qawalli, we seek the truth, be it on stage, at dargahs, in film studios. We make a special effort to reach out to the younger audience, by explaining them the meaning of the words we are singing, for we want to reach out to a wider audience," said the brothers,adding that the different compositions by the Sufis reach the same God. Many raags, saaz, phrases, using Hindi, Urdu, Persia, make this form so rich. "We are taking the Sufi tradition forward, and also the magic of Hindustani music. It is a different experience to sing live, and record for films, but both have their own reach and impact," says Farid, adding that they have sung for more than 70 films. The brothers say they sing for the audience gauging their mood and preferences, but always singing the praises of the divine, an ode to Sufi saints, and then of love, sadness. "There are many variations in language and music, and that's what make the qawwali timeless."
For all the latest Chandigarh News, download Indian Express App.


corresponded with the relevant senders who were extremely helpful.
> Ross until 1784., when he removed to Muirends, where he died in 1788.
> to Historical or Genealogical societies in Ross-shire at this time.
> have more information by now?


https://secure.fortunecity.com/projects/piwi/index.php?NEWSESSION cdreamssqagfhfv (note) I think it was ctrl & shift that saved the edit. Now I think you have to highlight the edit label above the page. Also, i put instructions on the adop pg onsite.


There's a great line from an old movie that has always resonated with me, said by a young man who falls in love unexpectedly with a young woman of another race and class: You're everything I never knew I always wanted.
I was thinking about that last night as I was saying my prayers before sleep. I always pray for everyone I love right before I go to sleep. It's part of my sleep ritual. (I was trying to explain to Michael the other day why a sleep ritual is important, but he looked at me like you old fuddy duddy...) I ask God every night to just look out for and guide everyone, because that's what I feel is the right way to pray.
What I wanted to explore this morning is the idea that telling God what you want, specifically, is pretty arrogant and often leads to dissatisfaction. It's taken me years to learn that. Years and years and lots of tears, as the song might say.
I think Atheists and possibly even agnostics use the idea of unanswered prayers as proof God doesn't exist. I would argue that God always answers ALL prayers, but he does it in his own time and in his own way, and it's not up to us to dictate to him.
For example, when I turned 40 I knew I was running out of time to be a mother. I wasn't married.I was in a relationship that I knew wasn't going to lead to marriage. I wanted to be married before I had children. My ovaries weren't getting any younger. The whole situation was hopeless and depressing. I simply told God I wanted a family and I needed a miracle, and then I LET IT GO. Within a couple of years I became a mom to Alesia, and a couple of years later I adopted Michael.
I THOUGHT what was going to happen was that I was going to get married and get pregnant. God didn't see it that way. His solution worked out better. Much better.
God knows the inner recesses of our hearts far better than we do. He knows what needs to happen if we are to be content, or even happy. We are flawed, fearful, and fallible. God is not. I also think of the world as a huge million-piece puzzle and within each piece there are a million more pieces. The complexity is mind-boggling - to us humans.
I was thinking the other day about a lady Mom told me about when I was adopting Alesia, an older friend of Mother's who lived in Augusta and I think was in her garden club. This lady had never married or had children. She reached middle age and had to quit her job to take care of her mother who was in bad health. She wrote me the sweetest note and said she was praying that my adoption would go through, and she had asked all her friends to pray. She explained that when she was young, she had wanted to be a mother, but single women simply didn't adopt children. I remember thinking what a sad and miserable life, just taking care of an old lady, with no husband or kids to help.
I knew as soon as I got Alesia home other dreams would come true, like a big house, a handsome husband, a brilliant writing career. I was on a roll, finally!
God in his infinite wisdom taught me a lot of lessons related to those thoughts.
First, Mom and I bought a house together. Second, Mom has gradually needed my help more and more in the past few years, and so I have become a caretaker, too. It's not a terrible life. I don't feel put-upon or unlucky. Her companionship more than makes up for whatever imposition it might be to care for her. We have to watch our pennies carefully, but I have time to write now, and my writing efforts have paid off. Working as a writer and editor now is a dream come true. I don't care about being a best-selling author - I don't have the ability to travel right now, and that's no big deal. I love my home.
Mother lived alone for 9 years, but she got tired of taking care of a big house in Augusta, and doing everything for herself. I was an answer to her prayer to not live alone the rest of her life. She was an answer to my prayer for help as a single mom.
My kids wanted a family. I am the answer to their prayers. I wanted children. They are answers to my prayers.
We are all inter-dependent on one another.
I was thinking yesterday as I sat on the back patio watching the birds in the backyard, Lola asleep at my feet, feeling the sunshine on my face, hearing the wind in the trees - this is everything I never knew I always wanted. This is contentment.
Then again, I had to have a tooth pulled about 6 months ago and when I found out that getting laughing gas would prolong the whole miserable experience and cost more I said FORGET IT. Give me a shot of Novocaine [or whatever] and yank that thing out -- while I squeeze the nurse's hand into a bloody pulp.
That's as close as I can get to a birth story.
No, wait - when I got my pacemaker it was an ordeal. I was in put into "twilight sleep" which was horrible. I wasn't asleep for most of it, just groggy and scared. I was aware of everything, including being strapped to the table and having my face covered. For someone who has occasional bouts of claustrophobia, it was a nightmare. I still don't like to even think about it.
So God knew what he was doing when we skipped the whole pregnancy and birth deal and opted for Plan B, adoption.
Still, I suppose it's better than being in a room with feet in the stirrups, my hoo-ha exposed to everyone who walks by. Mother says nobody can be shy after going through THAT.
A few years back I was at our neighborhood pool chatting with a friend of mine and somehow, I soon found myself in a circle of women. The birth stories started. This is not uncommon. Giving birth is probably one of the few really terrible and simultaneously wonderful things anyone can possibly do. Still, I felt left out. I told a story about adopting my daughter -- I don't remember what -- and everyone just stared at me like I was from Mars. There was a very awkward silence. Then they went right back to the birth stories. Followed by the nursing stories. Followed by the what-my-toddler-did stories.
I fervently wished for just one other adoptive parent to swim over and stand by my side in solidarity -- not anyone did though.
There are some things only other adoptive parents will possibly understand.
My daughter called the other day and asked me to send her birth certificate, Russian passport, and Certificate of Citizenship to her. She also wanted "the paper you said you'd show me when I was older." After I hung up, I felt really angry and sad and puzzled, and just upset, in general.
I don't begrudge my daughter any of it. She needs to see everything. She needs to process what happened to her in Russia. Being taken away from one's family and put into an orphanage is a terrible and life-changing thing, and she will deal with the after-effects for the rest of her life. Institutions are terrible places for children.
I sent her everything, including a copy of her parents' marriage certificate, and the transcript of the hearing where her birthmom had her parental rights terminated -- with English translations, of course.
I had very carefully gone over everything with Alesia when she was about 16 but she had no memory of that. None. Her brain dumps painful memories.
If I could talk to other adoptive parents right now, I would say this: don't hide anything. Don't sugar-coat anything. Whether you adopted a baby or a toddler or a teenager, it doesn't matter. The stories surrounding the birth family are critical to our kids. They have to process some very painful things, and there's not much we can do.
A lot of adoptive parents who adopt babies can say to them "Your birthmom simply couldn't parent you, and felt you would be better off in another family." In many cases, the birthmoms are teenagers, or very poor, or they simply aren't equipped for parenthood.
In the cases of my kids, though, who remember their birthmoms, they have to deal with the fact that they were with a birthmom for 6-8 years and the mom chose alcohol and partying instead of parenting. A judge had to remove my daughter from a cold, dirty home with no food, when she was so malnourished and sick she had to be hospitalized. A home where she was left alone for hours with no food, age 6 or younger. A home where neglect stunted her brain development. Michael's birthmom was the same story.
These are not pretty stories. They are tragic stories.
We were talking the other day, Michael and I, about a family he used to babysit for. The oldest child is now old enough to sit for her siblings. "In Georgia, the law is you have to be 12 to be left without supervision," I told him. "I was left alone when I was much younger than that and I was OK," he replied. "Yes, but you shouldn't have been left alone," I replied quietly.
I have almost stopped reading accounts by other adoptive parents of teenagers who go off the rails despite all the love and care we give them. Sometimes love and good intentions simply cannot make up for the early trauma. Very often, even for kids adopted as babies, the teen years are anxiety-producing nightmares. Our kids have to figure out their identity in the context of abandonment, which is very difficult. As parents, there's little we can do.
Alesia has gone through a period of rebellion, and I hope and pray she is getting her life back on track.
Michael has had some ups and downs the past couple of years; it hasn't all been smooth sailing. He's going to start college classes in a few weeks, though, and he just got a new job as a Host at a local restaurant.
They are both finding their way.
I cannot eliminate the feelings of sadness and abandonment they will always grapple with, no matter how much I envelop them with love. It simply isn't possible. I cannot wave a magic wand and go back in time and give birth to them. I wish.
Truthfully, I've done about all I can do, in a physical sense. I wish I had done some things differently, but hindsight is 20/20, of course.
Here's how I stay sane.
I remember this: my kids have been given something most of their peers in the orphanage didn't get: a chance at a good life. They have a mom, Granny, and uncle who love them fiercely and devotedly. We don't have a lot of money or material riches but those things are ephemeral. My kids were born in far-away places to women they will likely never see again, but they were re-born here, with me as their Mom, and I will never stop loving them or fighting for them to have decent lives.
Not a whole lot going on in my world. I am working from home, writing, walking Lola, the usual. Here's the news.
I am anxious for Fall. It's my favorite season, for one thing. For another, I'm tired of the heat and humidity. I feel like saying OK I MADE IT THROUGH SUMMER NOW I WANT MY REWARD!
I have checked around to several different stores and the Georgia Backroads magazine with my story in it isn't on store shelves yet. Very frustrating. Hopefully next week it will be available at CVS and/or Kroger.
I checked on the computer Thursday night, and Michael is finally free to get registered for college classes. Yay! He had to work yesterday so we couldn't get it done but hopefully Tuesday he can go over to campus and get that done. He can take half-term classes that start in October. Probably will only take a couple of classes, as they cram in a full semester's work into a half a semester and I don't want him to feel overwhelmed.
I feel keenly sorry for Rosie O'Donnell's situation with her daughter Chelsea. The daughter has now turned 18 and gone to live with her birthmom. I feel so sorry for Rosie. The birthmom reunion is unlikely to go well, based on what I hear from other adoptive parents about such reunions. The daughter has mental health issues, and is trying to figure out her identity. A lot of adopted kids go off the rails around the age of 17 or 18, just like my daughter. With any luck, once the girl matures she will realize how fortunate she was to be raised in a loving home.
Michael and I watched the movie Black or White the other night. It stars Kevin Costner as a grandfather raising his bi-racial grandchild and getting into a custody fight with her black grandmother. The critics hated this movie when it came out. I read some of those reviews. Costner usually makes watchable films, though, and this one was no exception. It was a really interesting and thought-provoking story. I would recommend it for kids 12 and older, as a good starting point for discussions about race, identity, substance abuse, and fairness.
Georgia plays its first football game today, in Athens, so I may watch some of that. I've gotten fond of watching college football, in my old age. I have no idea what's going on but I cheer loudly when the Bulldogs score. Mother watches in her room, hollering louder than I do.
Most Sundays I make an effort, at some point during the day, to write an essay here, to sort of stretch myself a little bit as a writer. At any given moment, there are usually at least a couple of ideas in my head that bear further examination and often they are worth essays, if I can organize my thoughts.
This Sunday needs to be different.
I was watching CBS Sunday Morning a little while ago and for no particular reason, I just started crying. I was not in physical pain. My gardens had been watered. Lola had been walked. Mother had been dressed and given her breakfast. I had started my laundry.
Lola was asleep on the sofa next to me.
I had eaten a good breakfast and was drinking my tea, which is normally the time of the morning when I try to just Rest and Digest. Watch a little TV. Play some Words With Friends on my phone. Plan the day.
So where did those tears come from?
I realized that they came from postponing dealing with some painful situations that arose last week. They were destined to come out, and the only thing to do was let them flow.
Tears that don't get to flow turn into poison inside of us, I think. Poison that causes self-destructive behavior and piles misery on misery. I don't want to go down that road.
Nothing really awful happened last week. Nobody died. But sometimes when sadness piles up one finds oneself carried away on that torrent, with no control whatsoever, and no way to steer safely over to the bank.
I interviewed for a job late last month and I was sure I would get it. I would have bet money on it. It was the perfect legal job for me. The interview went really well. At the end, the interviewer shook my hand and said "I really enjoyed meeting you, Dee. You are delightful." I floated home on a cloud of optimism, already planning all the things I could do with that great salary.
Not only did I not get that job, I didn't even get called for a second interview.
The same day I learned that upsetting news, I saw a job ad and thought "AHA! That's the perfect writing job for me! I will apply to it! God has shut a door but opened a window." So I did. I spent a great deal of time carefully crafting a cover letter highlighting my writing experience that I felt was relevant. I sent it off with a prayer and high hopes.
I didn't get called to interview for that writing job. My experience has been that if I send off a resume and don't get called for an interview within 24 hours, it's highly unlikely I will ever hear anything else about that job. Sometimes I'm wrong, but not usually. I think the person who places the job ad sees my resume and thinks "OH! I better call and get her in for an interview because she looks like a great candidate and I don't want someone else to steal her away!" -- OR not.
I am still applying right and left for any job I think I might have even a remote chance of getting, but after doing this off and on for most of the past 5 years, it's gotten very old. I wish I could just find an employer who understands that I can learn new computer programs without much trouble but some kid right out of college cannot bring my level of intelligence and wisdom to the table. Unfortunately, employers have set up screening mechanisms that pretty much discount anyone whose resume doesn't fit a narrow set of criteria.
My father hired people based on whether or not that were smart and had good character and a good work ethic. He didn't care what they majored in in college. Unfortunately, there aren't many like him around any more.
Mother's arthritis has been plaguing her recently, to the point where she is in a lot of pain -- not all the time, but frequently. There is nothing I can do about that. I take her meals to her in her room, and try to help her have books to read and things to distract her. Watching someone you love suffer, and being unable to fix it is hellish.
I need to get back into the weight loss groove. After being sick for months and unable to eat much without feeling awful, my recent recuperation has seen me putting some weight back on which I needed to have kept off. I love food. A lot. [Especially Ritz crackers...] I've got to get back on the program, though. It's always tough. I'm rather disgusted with myself.
I've gone to great lengths to try and get Michael to go to college, but I cannot predict what he will do this week, given his fear of new situations. I keep praying about it, but I just don't have any clear answers. I keep thinking to myself that if Michael could really and truly understand just what a promising future he has, with his incredible intellect, work ethic, sense of fairness, inherent kindness -- so many good qualities and talents -- he could do ANYTHING. He just doesn't realize what an amazing person he is, and I haven't been able to convey that to him.
My favorite Teva sandals are kaput.
I am sick of heat and humidity of August. I want FALL TEMPS.
I am tired of trying to think of things to fix for dinner.
I need to clean my room and I don't want to..
Yes, I realize now I am just basically whining. It's my blog and I'll whine if I want to.
So... the pity party is over, for the moment. I feel a bit better. I haven't given up, or given in. I will keep fighting the good fight, and trying to take care of my little family without whining or feeling sorry for myself.
I will try to remember the many blessings in my life, while I eat my salads and send off resumes, and pray.
I still believe God has plans for my life which include joy.
My job is to keep the faith.
Michael discovered the joys of Jello salad recently and made himself some. I had a spoonfull of what he made -- cherry jello with a can of fruit cocktail mixed in -- a "congealed salad" that was a staple around my house when I was growing up. It was yummy but too sweet.
But Fake Food is something certain kids only get because their parents don't cook real food, which is really sad.
"Kraft Foods Group announced Monday that Original Kraft Macaroni & Cheese sold in the United States will be made without artificial preservatives or synthetic colors starting in January 2016. Kraft says it will replace synthetic colors — including Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 — with colors derived from natural sources such as paprika, annatto and turmeric."
I don't know what "annatto" is but I bet it's more tasty than chemicals. Kudos to Kraft, but I think they only took this step because of public pressure..
When I was a kid, my grandmother and mother made macaroni and cheese from scratch. It involved boiling elbow macaroni 3 times longer than the package directions, until it was really soft. [To this day, I hate "al dente" pasta, ugh.] Then you make a basic white sauce and add lots of cheese, salt, pepper, onion powder, paprika, etc. Finally, you add in a couple of beaten eggs as you mix the cheese and pasta mixture. This was the BEST mac & cheese EVER. It was not lowfat, but things that are really tasty often are filled with fat because as any chef will tell you, Fat = Flavor.
You don't have to buy the boxed crap to give your kids something quick and pasta filled. Keep reading.
Mom was telling me a story of when my brother was in about 4th grade and she made a homemade pound cake with homemade chocolate icing. Bruce brought a little boy home from school to play, and Mother gave both boys big pieces of cake and glasses of milk. The boy loved the cake. He went home and told his mother how wonderful it was -- and I'm sure it was; Mother made fantastic cakes. The next day, Mom went to school to pick up Bruce and saw the child's mother, who came rushing over. "My son just loved that cake you made yesterday! He can't stop talking about it. What kind of cake did you make?" the woman asked.
Mother said "Well, it's just the old 1,2,3,4 pound cake with boiled chocolate icing."
The woman instantly realized Mother had made the cake from scratch instead of a boxed mix. Her demeanor instantly changed. She said something dismissive and stormed off, furious. She never spoke to Mother again!
My point is simply this: once kids eat real food, they like it. They usually don't want to return to Fake Food. And real food isn't that difficult or time-consuming to make. If you don't want to spend a lot of time making traditional mac & cheese, just make pasta salad. Use whole wheat or veggie pasta and olive oil and fresh garlic and parmesan cheese. Takes a little longer to fix than the boxed stuff but it's SO much better. Throw in some diced up peppers or zucchini and it's much more healthful.
I figured out a tasty spinach recipe the other day. I just sauteed some bacon in olive oil and threw in my spinach with some garlic powder and balsamic vinegar and sauteed it for a few minutes. You can also leave off the bacon and just use olive oil and fresh garlic, which I tried too, the next night -- the taste sensation is the balsamic vinegar. The sweetness of it cuts the bitterness of the spinach. Now, I must admit something -- I hate to see spinach stems on my plate. I don't know why. I just don't like stems. So I sit and pull off the stems while watching TV, so I just get the leaves. Still healthful. Very yummy. If you have a child who won't eat fresh spinach try pulling off the stems. If he still won't eat it tell him it came out of Shrek's swamp... Be Creative!
Think your kids just would never touch spinach? Try fresh asparagus -- easy and tasty.
Don't have time to make a cake from scratch? Try my brownies -- very easy to make if you have the ingredients on hand.
I know how hard it is to work full time and come home tired. You don't want to start in making some elaborate dinner, especially when the kids need homework help, the dog has to be walked, the kitchen is a mess. etc. BTDT Single moms especially have it hard. There are alternatives, though, if you are creative.
I had a friend at work years ago who raised her own two kids and her husband's 7 kids - 9 kids! She worked full time, too, and they had to live on a strict budget. I asked her how she managed. She said on Sundays she made 3 things, usually a roast, a pot of something like chili or spaghetti sauce, and something else. They ate on those as main dishes the rest of the week.
Another friend of mine told me recently she likes to get together with a buddy once a month or so and they spend all day cooking casseroles they can freeze to eat on days when they don't feel like cooking. Very clever idea.
So there are alternatives out there to Fake Food. Even if you don't like to cook, try not to feed your kids a steady diet of takeout food and pizza... They will thank you one day.
Ever have a day when you don't feel so hot and everything seems to be weighing you down? I had that kind of day yesterday.
There was nothing particularly wrong -- well other than the ongoing concern about money -- but it wasn't a happy day.
Michael can be a snarling bucket of bile when he doesn't get enough sleep and/or doesn't eat enough. Right now the boy is never home for meals and when he does come in he wants peanut butter crackers and/or sugary stuff like cookies and brownies. I'm usually in bed asleep at midnight when he's eating dinner. He won't take a vitamin. So add malnourishment to the list.
And it's not like there's not healthy food available. There's a big bowl of green bean salad in the fridge -- which he loves and I made specially for him -- plus carrots, cucumbers - plenty of good stuff available. Normally he's good about eating veggies.
I have tried to explain how he is Jekyll/Hyde depending on if he's gotten enough sleep or food, but since he doesn't have to deal with himself he doesn't realize it.
So yesterday every word out of his mouth was putrid. Plus my sinuses were bothering me. And I was retaining water. And I had some indigestion.
And it was HOT. Winter? That was last week. I was loathe to turn on the air conditioner but the house was stuffy and even with windows open the circulation of air isn't great.
Towards the late afternoon, when I had just about had enough drama, I walked out the front door to take Lola on a short walk.
As I stepped out of the door I heard a whooshing of wings and I looked to my right. A beautiful, big red cardinal flew towards the porch and turned to fly right towards me, staring me down, then banked sharply to the right and flew away. It happened in just a second.
Now, I take cardinals as signs of hopefulness.
It felt like God was sending me a sign, saying "OK Dee, I know it's a sucko day, but hey, DON'T give up! Here's a reminder that things will be OK!"
I always watch TV while I cook breakfast. Usually I find something on HGTV or maybe the local news, so I can catch the weather report. This morning, I flipped on the TV and caught an old movie I haven't seen in years, Broadcast News.
I remember identifying closely with the (short, southern, spunky) Holly Hunter character, and wishing I had gotten my degree in journalism instead of Drama. (There is clearly a lot of drama in journalism, however.) Then again, with the explosion of the internet, there are a lot of good journalists out of work now..
At their best, movies hold up a mirror to us and say hey, this is what you look like -- do you really like these things about yourself? Really?
All the movies I've ever seen that were written by James L. Brooks made me think. I am sure that I could watch As Good As It Gets and Terms of Endearment once a week for the rest of my life and still find interesting things, new things, every time I watch.
As I've often said, movies where something blows up every 5 minutes don't interest me much, but movies that honestly explore human relationships are endlessly fascinating.
Watching Holly Hunter this morning reminded me of what I found most interesting when I watched that movie the first time. I was fascinated by her clothes and her hair. I was dazzled by handsome William Hurt, and yet he was playing a character who was not too smart, and that turned me off, a lot. (To me, attractiveness is all about intelligence and personality, and looks have little to do with it.) I loved the homes in the movie. I loved the excitement of the news.
More than anything, the movie made me realize that the span of years since 1987 has seen me change so very, very much, and that is actually fine. It's not a bad thing. I can remember dreading the thought of being over 50 and yet, it's not bad at all. I couldn't have foreseen that slowing down and savoring the things in life that matter (family, friendship, faith, etc.) would be so much more fulfilling that my headlong rush to get what I wanted when I was in my 20's.
When you spend 20 years obsessed with finding a great love, getting married, having children, and being a famous writer, the fact that your perspective can utterly change is mind-blowing. So how did I change so radically?
The first thing that did it was the loss of my father when I was 34. Nothing prepares you to lose someone you share that bond with, that incredible tight relationship. Dad and I had arguments all the time, and I was often frustrated by his behavior, but when he died I was lost. It felt like somebody had thrown me off a boat, and I was dogpaddling desperately as the ship sailed away. Paddling and paddling and wondering how to even find the shore.
Now I realize that what I had to do was simply float. The harder I paddled and swam and exhausted myself, the worse things were.
I'm speaking in metaphors of course.
Other losses have rocked me over the years, but losing Dad was really the catalyst for the necessary character-building that had to happen.
I am so not the same person I was in 1987.
One of the joys of life now is putting Lola on her leash and walking. When I get home from work, I just want to be outside, after being cooped up all day.
Another joy is talking to Mother. We have some great talks. I would be a far more uptight person and a much more inept parent if it weren't for her wise counsel.
I told Michael recently that Granny is his greatest ally and advocate, and he just grinned. What a blessing she is to him, and how he is going to miss her when she's gone. He has no idea.
Being in an office with younger women has caused me to reflect a lot in the past week. I recognize and remember how I was, from observing them. I am the "old lady" and that's kinda weird. I still remember my first job, and being the youngest person in the office. I remember being blissfully unaware of all the curveballs life was going to throw at me. That's OK. It's good, in fact. I probably would've started drinking heavily if I had foreseen it all.
What I sort of wish I could do, though, is travel back in time and counsel the 25 year old me that watched Broadcast News for the first time. I would have so much to say to her. I would be full of advice about taking things more slowly, and saving money rather than spending it, and making sure to shut up and listen to my dad rather than arguing so much. But would 25 year old Dee listen? Would she do anything differently? Probably not.
When I feel regrets coming on, though, I immediately stop and remind myself that the twisted, messy roads I have cursed sometimes have also led to being a mom to Michael, and I don't want to change anything that would negate that. If I'd gotten married young and had biological children I wouldn't have adopted my kids. I wouldn't have traveled to Russia and Kazakhstan and experienced those cultures. I wouldn't have met some of the fascinating and wonderful friends I have now. Would I be more happy?
Maybe. I doubt it. I just would have different problems.
Do I get tired of dealing with a teenager and an 80 year old? Do I hate dealing with menopause? Do I miss old-fashioned job security? Do I get tired of worrying about how to pay bills? Absolutely.
"This much I know is true. God bless the broken road that led me straight to you."
Life hasn't turned out the way I thought it would. I haven't walked through it alone, though. Love has been all around me. Love has sustained me. Friends have kept me going many times. Mom has always been my rock. When I get tired and discouraged, God sends me signs -- all the time -- that he is with me, and I CAN keep going.
When I was in college and started forming my adult opinions I decided that I would never, ever, live in the suburbs. I would live in apartments in the city, or a townhouse maybe, where I didn't have to worry about weeding the flowerbeds or raccoons getting into the garbage, or any other suburban conundrum. I would be a Bohemian, haughtily opposed to the ridiculous and meaningless problems of the middle class suburban drone.
Then I grew up. I lived in a series of apartments. Between 1984 and 2005 I lived in 3 apartments in Knoxville and 2 here in Atlanta. My last residence before this was, technically, a condo, but it looked just like an apartment.
One day I remember driving down Henderson Mill Road and seeing all the middle class suburban houses and feeling a strange sense of longing. The yards were well-tended. There were brick schools on the road, and churches. There were many trees. I was still living in my condo, which was nice, but suddenly I longed to live in a solid and real home.
My heart longed for the stability of a house, with a yard, and trees and shrubs. I wanted a dog. I wanted real roots here in Atlanta. A house meant all those things.
Above, the house where I spent the most time when I was growing up, what we call the Venice Road house in Knoxville.
When I dream about my childhood, this is the house that usually appears. We lived in 3 different houses in Augusta between 1959 and 1971, when we moved to Knoxville. My memories of those houses are vague, although the last one is pretty clear.
What strikes me now about the Venice Road house in Knoxville is that in hindsight I realize it was a place of sanctuary.
I could tell you the names of every family on our street. I could name all the kids who lived in those houses. I could identify most of the families in the neighborhood.
That first winter, we sledded down the steep hill that led to our house. I had never seen snow that stuck to the ground, or had a snowball fight, or gone sledding. I had never experienced much winter, because winter in Augusta is very mild, usually only requiring a light jacket, on a January day.
A short walk away, in Knoxville, there were still farmers, and we bought vegetables from the farms. When you drove the country road behind our suburb you could see the mountains.
If there's anything I miss about Knoxville, it's the mountains. I took them for granted.
I didn't realize until I became a mom in late 2004 how much I wanted my daughter to know the sanctuary and comfort of a house.
We moved to this house in 2005, and Mother and I started sharing our lives again, and sharing the care of my children.
It's not a mansion. The driveway is bumpy. The patio needs pressure washing. There are always maintenance chores to be done.
Last night I was ill. I had - and still have, to an extent - some kind of stomach bug.
I called my next door neighbor last night after 9, on a Saturday, and she came right over and walked Lola, and helped me upstairs to bed. There was nobody I could've called on like that when I lived at the condo, or in any of my apartments.
I have come to realize that neighbors are what makes a place a home. We are blessed here with excellent, caring neighbors.
We got Michael home on May 9, 2007. He spoke very little English. He was tiny, and scared, and very clingy with me. Two months and a couple of weeks later, I wanted to do something for this first birthday in America. He hadn't made any friends because he was still learning English. He mostly just played with his sister.
We invited the kids in the nighborhood, on our street, plus another family with adopted Russian speaking kids. Everyone came and played games, ate cake, and had fun. The kids welcomed Michael and gave him a happy afternoon, filled with laughter and presents. I was so grateful.
There are so many ways in which we are blessed to live here.
The last time we had a big snow, Snowpocalypse in 2011, the schools were closed for a week. One of our neighbors loaned Michael 2 really nice sleds, and Michael and Colton sledded all over the place and had a blast.
That same neighbor saw my mailbox knocked over a few months later and just stopped and fixed it, without fanfare.
At Christmas we always get small gifts from our neighbors. When someone new moves in we welcome them with food.
We are not just a bunch of WASPS. On this street where I live we have Catholics, Jews, gay couples, interracial couples, Asians -- pretty much a melting pot.
The suburbs are not a desolate, soulless place, not necessarily. Our neighborhood is a great one, with caring people. We are very blessed to live here.