text:
Getting Pregnant
Labor and Delivery
Baby and Beyond
Okay weird- I thought I had posted at least one other journal update, but it's not showing up. So either my computer/internet screwed up or I was just thinking about posting and never actually did. Either one is a definite possibility!
Well I guess there was an up side to having horrible cramps this cycle- they only lasted one day instead of the three or so I usually get. Trade off, I guess.
So I've been going back and forth on whether or not to chart or JLIH. I'm really more of a JLIH kind of a girl, and I think I mentioned that I started temping and it made me absolutely crazy, so I should probably just forget about it and let things take their natural course. But I can't decide.
Today is another rough teething day for my poor little one. Someone remind me why I want to do this all over again? I feel so badly for her, but the nonstop screaming is starting to get to me. I've done everything I can think of, but nothing is helping. Well, Tylenol helps for a little while, then it's back to the screaming. She was like this with her other set of molars as well. All four of them came in at the same time. I hope that's what's happening this time. At least then we'll be finished!
Anyway, just trying to be patient waiting through this last cycle before we really start TTC! How crazy is that?!
AF is gone (yay!) and DH and I are discussing whether we should start trying this month, or next month as planned. I'm voting for next month but he's totally excited about another baby and wants to start trying now. I think it's so sweet that he's so excited and wants to start trying earlier, but we already moved it up one month (the original plan was January) and I just don't feel right about moving it up again. I'm a planner, and I have things I want to do to prepare before we start trying. I want to have another month on prenatal vitamins first, and I want to work on my weight a little bit more. I'm in a pretty good place with my weight, but in the last two weeks I gained 1 1/2 lb and I'd like to get rid of that (and maybe a little more) before getting pregnant. Prior to gaining the 1 1/2 lb I had been back at the weight I was before getting pregnant with Catie, and while I'd love to be about 3-5 lbs below that, it's a perfectly healthy/acceptable weight for my height and body type. I just want to make sure that I'm starting out in the best possible place physically for both myself and baby #2. So I'm thinking that we will stick to the plan and stop preventing as of December 1st, and see how things go. I also haven't been able to get to the gym as much as I'd like the last few weeks, and I really want to get back in the habit of going regularly before I get pregnant. I think that will give me a much better chance of continuing to go to the gym after I get pregnant. Once I'm in the routine of going all the time, it's easy and I love it, but once I get out of the routine it's hard to get started again. So I'd rather push myself to get started while I'm not pregnant and feeling normal than to try and struggle through it with morning sickness/etc.
This is unrelated to pregnancy/TTC, but I have to share it because it's cracking me up. Catie has been in the craziest mood the last couple of days (which is a nice change from the cranky, teething thing she had going on for several days prior to that). Last night we went out to dinner with a friend, and got frozen yogurt afterward. We let her run around the frozen yogurt place because there's a chalk board for kids to draw on and she really enjoys that. Well, there was this young, cute police officer there and Catie was full out flirting with him, trying to get his attention, etc. to the point where she just about walked into a table because she was trying to get him to look at her. DH stopped her about an inch away from conking her head. I was dying laughing. She continued her antics the whole time he was there, but he never paid attention to her. This morning was my "morning off" so DH got up with her, got her breakfast, took care of the dogs, etc. while I slept in and took a shower by myself (it's amazing the things you took for granted before having kids). When I came upstairs she was standing on her little stool, jumping up and down and yelling "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Just obviously totally wound up. DH said she'd been like all morning. So I asked her if she was excited to go to Wesley's (her best friend) birthday party later today. She started running around the room, waving her arms like a maniac and yelling, "Party party party! Sassy's party!" over and over and over (Sassy is how she says Wesley). DH and I were totally cracked up. She's not usually crazy hyper like this, so it's been entertaining. Probably more so than if this were her usual behavior. Well, she's down for a nap at the moment, so I need to go put the finishing touches on the Halloween costume I made her (Wesley's party is a costume party, obviously, since today is Halloween).
CD8 today. Everything appears to be going along fine. I'm temping just out of curiosity, but we still definitely going to go the JLIH route. Last night and this morning DH was asking to move up TTC to this month, but I just don't feel right about it. I feel like next month is the right time for us. It is cute that he is so excited for another baby, though! I am excited, but also scared to death, and simultaneously looking forward, and not looking forward to being pregnant again. How is that possible?
Anyway, yesterday we were at a birthday party for Catie's best friend. His mom is one of my best friends and also has a three-week-old baby girl. She's been telling me that the second time around is easier, so here's hoping that holds true for me as well . Anyway, at one point during the party the ladies retreated to the nursery for some girl talk while my friend nursed the little one. All of us have kids except for one who is currently pregnant, so of course we were talking about birthing classes, birth stories, labor, breastfeeding, etc. etc. I always enjoy talking about this stuff, but I started to get frustrated (with my situation, not with my friends). I started thinking that no matter what happens, I won't get that "2nd time is easier" childbirth experience. Of course that isn't always the case even for moms who have had perfect births in the past, but for me pretty much either way it goes will be a first time experience for me. If I end up with a second c-section it will be a new experience because I was under general anesthesia the first time around, so I have absolutely no idea what it's like to be awake for a c-section. And obviously I've never had a vaginal delivery, so I'll be in new territory there, as well. It's really frustrating to me. I have a child. I'm supposed to feel better about doing this a second time because I've done it once before. But I don't. I feel like a first time mom all over again, and for some reason, that just makes me mad! I feel inexperienced and basically like a fraud... how did I get a child without getting the knowledge that comes with experiencing birth? I know that I need to deal with these feelings before #2 is born so that I can have the best chance to put it behind me and not let if affect the birth of my second child. It's really hard. Most care providers don't even acknowledge your feelings. You just get the "well you have a healthy baby so everything is fine" response, which, let me tell you- is not helpful at all. Of course I am beyond thankful that my little girl is healthy. She is the light of my life. But that doesn't take away the trauma we experienced during her birth, and it doesn't mean that I will go into a second birth with no reservations. And can I just say, it's hard when it seems like everyone around you has perfect, natural childbirths. What's wrong with me? Why couldn't mine go that way? What did I do wrong? There are no answers to these questions. Sometimes stuff just happens. Maybe it's selfish, but I wish that it didn't have to happen to me. I wish it didn't have to happen to anyone.
So I just signed on and it looks like pg.org got spammed or something... top thread on almost every board is something about real estate signs. Nice. Anyway, today is CD 11 and I think FertilityFriend must think I'm completely nuts. Just put in my info for today. Lowest temp yet, but definite EW CM... TMI, I know. Is that weird? I'm not much of a charter... really more JLIH, but trying it out this month while we're still preventing just out of curiosity to see what my body does. Anyway, same old stuff... same conflicting emotions about getting baby #2 on the way. But very thankful that we are spacing them out as much as we are, especially watching a couple of friends who are going through it with kids in the 18 month- 2 year range. Not that there's anything wrong with that- it is the right thing for their families. I just know that it's not right for our family, and I'm really glad we figured that out before it was too late .
So yesterday after I picked Catie up from mother's day out, I also picked up her best friend and brought them both back here. They played great which was awesome- it allowed me to get some cooking done. At one point they decided that it would way more fun to run around the house naked. After negotiations, we compromised to only wearing diapers. They are hilarious.
In not so funny news, I was watching Grey's Anatomy on Hulu last night after DD went to bed and DH was out at a choir rehearsal (he's directing the choir at our church for this Christmas season), and something in the show made me have a flashback of the moment when I was about to go under general anesthesia for my c-section, and was wondering if I'd ever wake up again. Not fun. Not cool. Thought I'd dealt with all that. Oh well... healing is a process, right? I just really hate dealing with the fear. I hate fear. With my more cautious personality type it's something that I have to struggle against all the time, in all aspects of my life. But I'm determined not to let it run my life.
So today I am enjoying the fact that my house is pretty clean (pretty clean rather than perfectly clean due to the fact that I have to two shedding dogs and a child who takes out toys faster than I can pick them up), and I am doing some cooking/baking that I need to get into the freezer. Trying to get everything that can possibly be made ahead and frozen done this month so at Christmas I can relax. Well, I don't know about relax, but at least have less to do. There are some things that will just have to be made at the last minute. I'm toying with the idea of making and freezing the toffee. I know that it freezes just fine, but the chocolate on top doesn't look as pretty after being frozen. Still totally edible, just looks a little different. Maybe I'll freeze the batch that just for our family, and then do a fresh batch to give away. Trying to be better about planning and doing stuff ahead. I feel like I have to start preparing now for what life with two kids will be like!
I forgot to take my temp this morning. Oh well. I slept pretty badly, woke up early, got up to use the bathroom, laid back down for awhile, got up to use the bathroom again and then realized that I hadn't taken my temp. Not a big deal, but I think I'm close to ovulating (some EWCM and ovulation pain), so I was curious to see what my temp would be. I will try to remember tomorrow. We made it through the time change relatively unscathed. Can I just say that I HATE the stupid time changes? The practical purpose for it no longer exists, so why can't we just pick one time and stick with it? It's gotten easier as Caitrin has gotten older, but she was still up earlier than I had hoped this morning (of course today was the earliest she'd woken up in about two weeks), and now we have to try to make it through church without her melting down and wanting to nap too early. Ugh.
So on top of this whole, "let's radically change our lives by having another baby" my husband has decided it's time for us to move. Okay, he hasn't "decided." We're a team and we make these decisions together. But he suddenly has wanderlust and really, really wants to move (not to another state or anything, just to another house). I have mixed feelings about this. For one thing, we had always planned to sell this house at some point and move to a neighboring county (we're very close to the county line- it's not far). The neighboring county has much, MUCH better schools, and is generally a more desirable location. But, because of this, it is much more expensive than where we are now, so in order to find something in our budget we have to buy a fixer-upper. I'm okay with that, but I realize that it will be more difficult with small children. But it can be done. My parents did it. I know what it's like to live in a construction zone. And it wouldn't be that bad for us- we would buy something that just needs to be updated, not something that needs major structural changes.
We found several houses that are good possibilities. One in particular that in spite of the fact that it is a 1970's nightmare with 35 years worth of cigarette smoke stench, we kind of fell in love with. But a lot of factors would have to fall into place for us to get that house. I almost feel better about it that way- I feel like if it's meant to be it will be, and if not, it won't. The idea of getting that house simultaneously excites me and scares the crap out of me (it would be a lot of work and we would have to carefully budget our renovations). Also I'm sad because I really, REALLY love the house we're in right now. It was our first house (we rented an apartment prior to buying this place). There are so many memories here, not to mention that I just love the house itself. It's been such a great house for us and it makes me sad to think of leaving it. Not to mention that the idea of trying to sell it in the current market is very scary. Terrifying, in fact. And then I think about going through putting our house on the market, making an offer on another house, hoping our house sells so that we're not stuck with two mortgages, tearing out smoky carpet/wallpaper/etc. and painting, putting new flooring in, and MOVING while potentially being PREGNANT and I almost hyperventilate. Or at least half of me does. The other half of me thinks that while it would be stressful, it would be doable, and as my husband pointed out, better to move while I'm pregnant than while we have a newborn.
Okay, this has gotten much, much longer than I intended. Oops. Well, if you've been reading this journal you know that the idea of having a second child scares me as well as excites me. Then you add the scariness/excitement of potentially moving/buying/selling houses, and I'm a mess. A total mess. So I'm focusing on things I can control. Trying to be the best wife and mommy I can be, continuing as planned with holiday prep (we wouldn't consider putting our house on the market until January, anyway) and de-cluttering the house. Whether we end up moving or not, it will be great to clear some stuff out of this house. We have accumulated soooooo much stuff! Where does it all come from?! We will be making a couple of huge drop offs to Goodwill in the next few days!
This is why I usually don't temp JLIH. Things don't go exactly the way I expect them to, and then I start obsessing that something is wrong with me. Last month I gave up temping around this time in my cycle because I was making myself crazy. Plus I wasn't super consistent with it, so it really wasn't a good assessment of what was going on. This month, I've temped every day except for yesterday. So, two days ago, my temp had started to go up. I've had O pains for the last two days and some (thought not a lot) of EWCM. So when I took my temp this morning I expected it to at least be in the range of what it was two days ago, if not a little higher. Nope. Back down. Way back down. What the heck? Well, last month after I stopped temping I'm pretty sure I did end up ovulating, but it was late, and then my cycle was 34 days, so it seems like could definitely have been the case. When I'm not on birth control I always have longer (though still regular) cycles, so maybe this is normal for me? I don't know.
On a mommy note, can I just say how much I passionately hate the stupid time changes? Really. Why do we still have them? They no longer serve a practical purpose but to torture all mothers out there. For the last two/three weeks Caitrin has been getting up between 7 and 8. Fabulous. That is pretty much sleeping in for me. The days were going smoothly as far as sleep for her. Since the time change (which of course was only yesterday) she has been up at the crack of dawn. We're talking still dark out. Then of course she wants to nap earlier, then she wakes up earlier, then she gets cranky well before bedtime because she's tired from not napping later in the day. Aaaaaaaagggggggggghhhhhhh. I. Hate. This. This morning I got up to use the bathroom some time around 5. It's pitch black outside, and who do I hear giggling in her crib? Oh yes. My child. She was happy, so I just left her and went back to bed. At six, I was jolted out of sleep by an enormous crash (her room is right above ours). I immediately knew what must have happened and woke my husband up yelling, "I think she fell out of bed!" So we both took off running upstairs. Now you have to understand that she still sleeps in her crib, and she's not much a climber, so she has never attempted to get out of it. In fact, she loves her bed so much that she has attempted to climb in, but never out. So I open her bedroom door to find her standing on the floor next to her bed screaming bloody murder. The reason for the fall is immediately evident: she was wearing one shoe. My child is obsessed with shoes, and apparently my husband left her shoes on the edge of the changing table when he got her ready for bed last night. So Catie was leaning over the railing of her crib trying to get the shoes. I guess she got one on and was going back for the second. She must have partially climbed/had one leg over the rail or something, because we have the mattress lowered to the point that the railing comes up almost to her shoulders. I'm really not sure how she pulled it off, but it definitely wasn't what any of us wanted to wake up to this morning. The funny part was, she wouldn't stop crying until we had gotten the other shoe and helped her put it on. Then she went from screaming to perfectly happy in about one second.
So apparently I read the thermometer wrong yesterday in my bleary-eyed exhaustion. When I turned it on this morning to take my temp it showed yesterday's temp (it stores the last temp taken) and it was higher than I remember it being by a good margin. My temp was even a little higher today, and I had more EWCM so I think things are on track. I just want to know that my body is doing what it's supposed to do so that we can start trying next month, or if I need to give it some more time to get acclimated after going off the pill.
In other news, waiting to hear back from our real estate agent about looking at a couple of houses tomorrow. I spoke to my brother this morning about looking at the other house with us (the one we really like). He owns his own painting business, and spent several years working for a carpenter when he was in high school/college, so he has a lot of knowledge and deals with repairs/renovations/etc. on a regular basis. So his input will be really helpful.
Right now I am snuggling with my girl and watching Sesame Street. She is usually not much of a snuggler (always on the go) so I am enjoying this!
Okay, so I seriously have no idea what's going on. My temp was down again this morning. I've had EWCM for several days, and had O pains a few days ago. I'm thinking that maybe temping isn't something that works well for me. I'm an extremely light sleeper, so I wake up often in the night. I usually go right back to sleep, but especially in the early morning hours I tend to be restless and wake up often. You're supposed to take your temperature after a minimum of 3 solid hours of sleep, so I don't know if that's affecting it. Well, it doesn't really matter. I do think that I'm ovulating. We're planning to JLIH anyway, this was purely out of curiosity, so no big deal. I will probably continue temping to the end of this cycle, then stop and just see what happens.
In other news, still feeling stressed about potentially putting our house on the market/making an offer on another house. We looked at two more houses this evening, which basically confirmed that we really, really like the other house we looked at, and that's the one we'd want to go with. My husband wants to make an offer/put this house on the market before Christmas, but I just don't feel right about that. In a week or two I could feel differently once I've had more time to think it over, but as of right at this moment it makes me so anxious that I feel nauseous. I am striving to trust God in this and to be at peace with whatever happens. I want to give the burden to Him and not worry about it, but the problem is that I keep taking it back and getting anxious all over again . No one ever said that trust would be easy! I will just keep working at it. If we end up staying here, I love this house and would be fine with it. If we got the house we have our eye on I would be excited. It's the prospect of putting this one on the market and not being able to sell it that terrifies me. It's a lot to think about at the same time that we're trying to get number 2 on the way! Eeeeek!
My temp finally went up this morning, but once again I slept badly so I don't know how accurate my temp was. I got so anxious over all the real estate stuff that I kept waking up with an upset stomach throughout the night. Then Caitrin woke up at the crack of dawn again, and then refused to take a nap ALL DAY. She fell asleep for less than an hour around 4:30/4:45, and then woke up screaming. She usually takes a three hour nap, so you can see how this had disaster potential written all over it. Anyway, we made it through the day, and Grey's Anatomy is about to come on, so I am getting comfy on the couch and relaxing! We'll see what tomorrow brings with the whole temping thing.
My temp went up again this morning- highest one yet. Also my CM has dried up, so I'm guessing that at some point over the last few days, something happened. Now we will just have to wait and see when I get my next period and see how long this cycle is. It's good to know that my body is doing something... even if I'm 100% sure exactly what or when. I've never been on a 28 day cycle, so I'm not worried about that. My cycles have always been regular, just long. I'm hoping that I won't have cramps as badly this time around. Having cramps that feel like labor pain while you're trying to chase a two-year-old around is just cruel.
The plans to get our house ready to go on the market continue. Whether we end up moving or not, it will be nice to have cleared out a lot of stuff that we've accumulated, and to have taken care of all those minor things around the house that are never a priority otherwise. Plus it's given me incentive to get out in the garden and get it cleaned up for the winter. If we do move, I will miss my garden. We did all the landscaping at this house ourselves (it was more or less a blank slate when we bought it), and the gardens are beautiful (if I do say so myself ). It would be fun to start over and make a whole new garden at a new house, but if we buy the house we have our eye on, we wouldn't be able to right away- the interior would require all of our immediate time/attention/money. Anyway, that is getting ahead of myself. Right now I'm trying to just focus on one task at a time and on enjoying today. Otherwise I get way too overwhelmed.


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Marc Hinton on Ali Williams
Battle-scarred Braid leads rejuvenated Blues' charge
Marc Hinton The battered grille betrays the fact the preceding two victories have not been quite the cakewalks some have portrayed them as.
Blues get their swagger back, for 40 minutes at least
Marc Hinton The Melbourne Rebels were unable to snap their depressing trend of late losses when they fell to the Blues 36-32 in their Super Rugby clash on Saturday night.
Hurricanes bench Cruden, Blues drop Rokocoko
Marc Hinton and David Long Daniel Kirkpatrick gets the nod over Aaron Cruden this week as the Hurricanes look for resilience rather than the brilliance in the pivot to face the Blues.
Stormers shock Blues at Eden Park
Marc Hinton What a difference a week made for the Stormers as they stunned the Blues at Eden Park with a scintillating second-half comeback to get their Super Rugby season back on track.
Hoeata, Slade named in All Blacks test team
Marc Hinton Jarrad Hoeata and Colin Slade will have more to prove than most when they run out for the All Blacks in the test season opener against Fiji at Carisbrook on Friday night.
Marc Hinton
Graham Henry leaps to Robbie Deans' defence
Marc Hinton Embattled Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has received some support from an unlikely quarter - the man who beat him out for the All Blacks post back in 2008.
Henry: Result has no relevance for World Cup
Marc Hinton Big game. High stakes. Zero World Cup relevance.
Rampant Blues crush Lions
Marc Hinton, rugbyheaven.co.nz Good Friday. Maybe even a very good one for the Blues as they arrested their Super 14 losing skid with a confidence-boosting victory over South Africa's Lions at Eden Park.
Standouts missing from All Blacks
Marc Hinton, www.stuff.co.nz There may have been three debutants, a new skipper and even a surprise omission, but, let's face it, Graham Henry's 26-man All Blacks squad unveiled yesterday for the upcoming Iveco series is more...
Nonu surely silences his detractors
Marc Hinton, www.rugbyheaven.co.nz It is time, surely, to acknowledge the enigmatic Ma'a Nonu as the gifted performer he is. He was a shining light for the All Blacks at Croke Park and maybe now, finally, his critics can eat their...
Advantage Crusaders, Canes as S14 squads named
Marc Hinton, www.rugbyheaven.co.nz The Chiefs and Highlanders have been the big draft/transfer market movers, the Blues have steadfastly stuck to their (pop)guns and the Crusaders and Hurricanes have unveiled what appear to be New...
Blackie could join Blues in Perth
Marc Hinton, www.rugbyheaven.co.nz The Blues could have Japan-based Josh Blackie on board as early as the opening game of the new Super 14 competition in Perth next Friday night.
NZ team of the week
Marc Hinton, www.rugbyheaven.co.nz The best XV from the five NZ provinces in action in round 10.
Lavea laps up pressure to perform
Marc Hinton, www.rugbyheaven.co.nz The Blues appear ready to give Tasesa Lavea the chance to redeem himself in 2009's Super 14, with the talented playmaker pledging to "silence" his critics - a group that is not insignificant in its...
Ali in doubt for All Blacks
Marc Hinton, www.stuff.co.nz Newly re-signed All Black lock Ali Williams is in serious danger of missing the start of the test season as he battles to clear up an Achilles tendon problem that has wrecked his Super 14.
Good news for Blues: Matfield out
Marc Hinton, www.rugbyheaven.co.nz The Blues have caught two major breaks on the personnel front ahead of the weekend's Super 14 clash with the Bulls in Pretoria.
Williams out of Italy Test
Marc Hinton in Christchurch Isaac Ross didn't know whether to laugh or cry when teammate went down with a recurrence of Achilles injury.
Tipsters guide to the All Blacks squad (Mk II)
Marc Hinton, www.stuff.co.nz All Blacks coach Graham Henry has been delivered two positive injury reports on a couple of his crocked contenders which may change some thinking ahead of the Iveco Series squad announcement at Eden...
All Blacks contenders and pretenders
Marc Hinton, www.rugbyheaven.co.nz Six weeks out from decision time there must be an air of contentment among the travelling triumvirate that are the All Blacks selectors.
All Blacks overcome Italy
Marc Hinton On the strength of this Graham Henry has mountains to move ahead of the Tri-Nations. Even with his young lock Isaac Ross turning in a timely virtuoso performance to show there just may be life after...

subset: commoncrawl


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CPTV Celebrates 50 Years: Present at the Creation
(page 5 of 5)
The 'Elvis Years' (the '90s-'00s)
Once Jerry Franklin and Larry Rifkin demonstrated they could up the ante successfully on local programming, it was time to tackle the national market. Little did they know they'd have a phenom on their hands, one that would conquer the world . . . in a purple dinosaur suit. Two years later, even he would be eclipsed—by a team of extraordinary college women in basketball uniforms, who enjoyed a phenomenal 18-year love affair with Connecticut, and yes, the entire world of sports fans.
Larry Rifkin: There was a certain amount of temerity in thinking that we had any business trying to be national producers, because we had no money and couldn't risk a lot of money. There were many stations—in Pittsburgh in particular—that had gone broke trying to be a national player. But I knew that PBS was looking for children's programming beyond Fred Rogers and "Sesame Street." And they encouraged us to come up with ideas.
Jerry Franklin: We sit here in Connecticut, on this little piece of geography between two giants of the industry: WGBH, which we lovingly refer to as "the mother church," and WNET in New York. At the time, those two produced nearly 80 percent of national PBS programming. But then we got the opportunity to work with a couple of McKinsey & Co. consultants, who came to our little building for three or four months and studied how we might get into the national market. One of the things they said was, "Be smart and strategic. You don't have the resources to develop a national project from the ground up. You need to find a project that's already halfway up the food chain." So that's what we did.
Larry Rifkin: On Super Bowl Sunday in 1991, I went to a Blockbuster Video across the street with my daughter, Leora, who was 3 or 4 at the time, and she picked up this video, "Barney and the Backyard Gang." And she watched it incessantly. I thought, "What is this?" I could see it had elements—for one, a lead character that wasn't as neurotic as Big Bird—that I thought could be developed, though it wasn't as well-produced as it might have been.
Jerry Franklin: Larry, who was head of programming at that point, brought the video in the next day and said, "Why don't you take this home and have your son Alex look at it?" And my son was mesmerized by it. Ultimately, we circulated it to all the CPTV employees with preschoolers. The reaction was pretty much unanimous: Adults didn't like the show, but kids loved it. On the back of the video box there was a phone number for producer Sheryl Leach in Plano, Texas—she was operating out of her home. We got her on the phone, and said we'd love to talk to you about bringing Barney to television. We knew the program needed to be dressed up, so we borrowed $350,000 and sent some cameras to her home in Texas.
Sheryl Leach (co-producer of "Barney and Friends"): Larry's first words to me were, "Have you ever considered PBS?" I remember I said, "How does one do that?" It happened to be that particular year that PBS decided to boost their children's programming block—they wanted to fund and test three programs, and they would pick the top two. The others were "Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop" and "Shining Time Station." So representatives from PBS in Washington, D.C., came to Texas, to look at our facility and see what we had done. By that time, our videos had gone platinum and we were featured in programs on the Disney Channel. PBS decided to order 40 shows. And from the day of our debut, which I think was April 2, 1992, we were No. 1 in the ratings.
Larry Rifkin: Within weeks, PBS told us they were discontinuing our funding.
Sheryl Leach: We found out during our big wrap party, after everyone had given 150 percent. So we did a letter-writing campaign to all the affiliates and said, "Did you know that Barney is being defunded?"
Larry Rifkin: I really went on a campaign, like a politician trying to win votes. We raised $50,000 in pledge contributions just by bringing Barney into the studio live one morning. We brought him to the Hartford Civic Center; it was like Beatlemania.
Donna Collins (CPTV executive, 1987-2000): We invited families to a meet-and-greet with Barney. It was supposd to be a casual thing, like visiting Santa in a store at Christmastime. But by the time we left to go to the Civic Center, there was a traffic jam in downtown Hartford. There was a line outside the Civic Center and around the block. We were blown away. And the line kept coming. We had crowd-control issues—we just weren't prepared. Barney said, "We're not leaving until everyone gets a photo," because the idea was you get your picture taken with him. His costume at that point wasn't ventilated very well; we kept having to take him to the men's room to start fanning him.
Sheryl Leach: This all took place a month or so before June, when PBS had its annual affiliates meeting. And they arrived furious, because Barney was their No. 1 show.
Larry Rifkin: For the first time, PBS had a designated chief programming officer that they sent to the meeting. She heard, loud and clear, that this decision would not stand. It was like an insurrection. By the end of the meeting, she said, "I will renegotiate with CPTV." That was remarkable; nothing like it has happened since.
Larry Rifkin: UConn women's basketball was really, in many ways, the biggest thing we ever did. I don't think there's ever been a franchise in the history of public television that was as successful for as long as that was, on so many levels, in redefining a television station in relationship to its audience.
Arthur Diedrick: When we decided to broadcast UConn women's basketball, in 1994, at first people did ask why: "Who's going to watch that?"
Jerry Franklin: We were the first public TV channel to broadcast women's tennis, long before there was any sports channel. It was Fred Jelsey, late Democratic state representative from Enfield and chairman of the state legislature's bonding committee, who got us to consider basketball. I'd been courting Fred because we'd received some state bonding funds over the years. One day, Larry and I were in his office, and Fred said, "Jerry, have you ever seen the UConn girls play basketball?" I said, "No, I haven't." And he kind of challenged us to pay attention. I think Larry was the first to check them out, and he came back saying, "Let's put them on air." He hired some people and put together a broadcast team, and we went to Bob Fiondella, CEO at Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance in Hartford, because we needed some money. We needed a remote truck—you can't just cover a basketball game with a couple of stationary cameras. I knew Bob had identified the women's market as one of Phoenix's most desired. So they invested $25,000 that first season, which gave us the funding to rent a truck. That became the most popular program on any public television station. The ratings were just phenomenal. For 18 years, that was a wonderful love affair we had with UConn.
Larry Rifkin: Fred Jelsey said to Jerry, "There's this phenomenon building." There was this Rebecca Lobo; everybody had heard about her, but no one had seen her other than in a minute-long clip here and there. I told Jerry, "I've been following this a little bit; I think he's right." But sports wasn't really CPTV's milieu, even though we'd aired broadcasts in the past. So we got together with UConn and decided to try it out. All of a sudden, the phones started ringing and they never stopped, through 2012. It was a journey like no other.
Donna Collins: I got a call on a Thursday morning in my office from Jerry and Larry, who said, "We just got an opportunity to pick up a game from New England Sports Network, a UConn Women's basketball game. You know, they're in the Sweet 16." I had no idea what they were talking about, but I was handed the ball and told to run with it. I said, "When's the game?" They said, "Tomorrow night." I got the sales team together, and we had to jump on the phone and call people. And they were great. Bob Fiondella at Phoenix was the first person we called, because he was a fan. On Saturday, all the media could talk about was being able to see that game. Monday morning I went to work, and there was the red flashing light on my phone from Jerry. No we needed to raise more money because UConn was going into the Big 8. So we did these drives three times; then they went on to the Big East.
Jay Whitsett: I was one of the first people who put together a technical crew for women's basketball. I had all these public television people, and I really needed sports people. I needed camera experts; I needed people who knew how to do sports audio. Everyone who had done sports programming for CPTV in the past had moved on. Now, all I had was "artistes." So, we leased a truck and brought in freelancers, and put together a crew using them. Our producer and director were freelance, as were the people who did replays and the main audio.
Larry Rifkin: The next year was UConn's 35-0 season. We had no contract, we just aired 11 games, and we ended up in a parade at the end of the year, getting adulation that no local station or local broadcaster has ever gotten. Jerry and I were like, "This is amazing. This is what you work your whole career to feel, like you've really made a difference in people's lives."
Jerry Franklin: People said, "Gee, why isn't it Channel 3?" because they have this huge sports department. But it wasn't; it was us. I think it goes back to the opportunistic nature of who we are—we love to follow our hunches. Larry Rifkin led us down the Barney trail, and I thought he would be a good choice to lead us into women's basketball. Believe me, the other local stations started watching. Many of the general managers of those stations had never been to Storrs. After they saw what was going on, they all wanted to partner with us. The first year, we didn't have to pay UConn. But the next year, they recognized how hot this property was, and told us, "You're going to have to pay for the broadcast rights." So we thought we'd need a commercial partner to help, because we didn't know if we could raise enough membership income or corporate income.
Larry Rifkin: In 1996, UConn put out an RFP. Jerry thought they wanted us to partner with a commercial station. I went to talk to all those guys, came back and said, "If we don't do this alone, it will lose all it's pledge and membership value. Because even if these guys broadcast three games and we're doing 30, it'll look like we're doing three and they're doing 30. It will cease being unique to CPTV." And Jerry agreed to go it alone.
Jerry Franklin: We had partnership bids from Channel 3, Channel 8 and Channel 30—they all wanted to partner with us. But Larry and I made a gutsy call not to partner with any of them. Then we realized we would have to compete with these guys; they would put in their own bids. And some did, but they couldn't do what we said we'd do, which was broadcast every single game. We would interrupt our schedule to accommodate them; we would not tape delay. We knew the others couldn't do that. We could, but we took some flak. You interrupt "Masterpiece Theatre" for basketball, and whoa—that was a big deal. I didn't know whether I could survive that.
Donna Collins: Now we needed to raise a significant amount of money, to be able to cover the rights fees and production costs. There were huge production costs—we need to raise $1 million for that. So we went back to the logical corporate partners, and they really stepped up, particularly Bob Fiondella. We were looking for "Team Partners," and when we went to him, he offered to be a "Team Captain." CPTV put the UConn women's team on the map, and the team put CPTV on the map. It was the finest example of win-win. And the corporate community found a marketplace that was unique, through which they could express their corporate responsibility and commitment to the community, while the people of Connecticut got to watch and came to love these athlete-scholars. So it really was a win-win-win-win.
Coleman Levy: In reality, the commercial stations couldn't have covered women's basketball. If you're playing a game on Thursday night at 9 and "Seinfeld" is supposed to be on, you can't preempt "Seinfeld." So in many ways, the networks couldn't accommodate the schedule—the ones who could were the cable networks, like ESPN. So over time, the deal changed because all of the national broadcasts featuring UConn preempted CPTV. If the game was on CBS on Saturday afternoon, it wasn't going to be one CPTV. If it was a Big East game on ESPN, it wouldn't be on CPTV. And that's part of the contract CPTV was aware of—it became less exclusive once women's basketball started to rise. But in the beginning, no one understood women's basketball. And if UConn hadn't won that first game CPTV aired, it would have been nonexistent.
Donna Collins: The UConn Women were the only collegiate women's team to have a TV schedule. And the partnership went beyond basketball. We also created and ran interstitial programming about UConn, so it was an integrated presentation. Many have said that that really paved the way for the success of the university's UConn 2000 fund-raising initiative. Ultimately, the visibility and popularity of the games also paved the way for the formation of the WNBA. And basketball was a very big driver of CPTV membership—both basketball and Barney helped us build our own fan base apart from PBS.
Sharon Blair: I was very proud of UConn Women's Basketball for no other reason than my past as a high school basketball player in Arkansas. That made a huge name for CPTV in Connecticut. And in a professional sense, outside of Connecticut—I can guarantee that a lot of people who moved on have it on their résumé. It was an incredibly important thing to the visibility and financial support of CPTV over the last 10 or 12 years. I mourn the loss of that on behalf of the network.
Frank Donovan: I believe that UConn did a terrible disservice to CPTV, and also its fans, by not staying with the network—or even letting them have a second shot at meeting the winning bid. After 18 years! No one gave a darn about UConn or the women's basketball team until it was on CPTV. I think the school did itself a disservice, too—I don't watch the games any more.
Donna Collins: I think CPTV's loss of the UConn basketball contract was like losing a best friend, or breaking up a family. Was it the right or wrong decision for UConn? I really can't say. I think that the new packaging is pretty dynamic, but watching it on SNY, it doesn't quite look like my UConn women anymore. From the perspective of the UConn sports program, it was probably a good way to broaden their exposure. From a local point of view, I think that there's something missing for all of us. I think Connecticut was broken by it.
Arthur Diedrick: Losing the basketball franchise has been a blow, but not a fatal blow. I think we're all disappointed, because we felt so close to UConn and worked so well with them. The good news is that we're going to be working with UConn on other sports activities—whether baseball, field hockey or lacrosse—with our new cable network, CPTV Sports. CPTV Sports also broadcasts high school football from around the state, which has a good following, and we're going to be working with the U.S. Army on sports broadcasting. It's going to take a few more years to really establish the franchise.
Want more? We'll be posting an even bigger expansion of CPTV's oral history in June, to herald the network's 50th anniversary gala June 8 at the Hartford Marriott. Stay tuned . . .


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Democrats squawk as cracks form in immigration coalition | WashingtonExaminer.com
It wouldn't take much to break the coalition apart. And if that happens, the effort to enact comprehensive immigration reform could blow up, not just for the moment, but for some time to come. And there are signs that is exactly what is occurring now.
Compete America is a group that calls itself the "leading advocate for reform of U.S. immigration policy for highly educated foreign professionals." Its members are some of the biggest names in the tech world: Amazon, Facebook, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft and many others.
The companies, as well as other high-profile groups, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's FWD.us, have given millions to the cause of comprehensive immigration reform. The main reason is that they want an expansion of the H-1B visa program that allows high-skilled immigrants into the United States, thus expanding the labor pool for tech companies.
Not to mention increasing their bottom line. Got that? What they're doing is using money to bribe legislators to pass laws to increase their profits, no matter what it does to America and Americans at large.
I love capitalism, but I absolutely hate crony capitalism, or fascist corporatism, which is the system we live with today.
The bottom line is, comprehensive immigration reform is a classic legislative Jenga game. Pull out one stick, and the whole thing comes crashing down. And that could be about to happen.
We, we can hope, I suppose, but the GOP thinks it has too much to gain politiccally from pacifying millions of Latino illegals, so I'm not that hopeful.


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Upon completing my undergrad degree and starting my masters, there were a lot of ideas and projects in the architecture world focused around food and urban farming. Being a farm girl, I was disappointed with the lack of knowledge about ...
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There are some very important reasons for seed gathering


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If you look hard enough, anything you could ever want to find is on the Internet. From the exact recipe youre looking for to odd porn you never even knew existed, its all floating around somewhere amidst an almost unending river of knowledge. Need proof?
J.J. Murphy's watch has ended, before it really even began on HBO's hit series Game of Thrones. The actor, known for stage roles in Belfast, was 86.
Can you imagine how unbelievably awesome it must be to be a part of Game of Thrones? It almost doesn't matter if you're a fan favorite or a figure fans love to hate. Just by being there you are living out the fantasies of untold fans and steadily being made a part of television history. But for some this ride ends too soon, and one fallen princess is taking it hard in a hilarious way, as you can see in the vine below.
Thankfully, this blooper-filled video stands In striking contrast to the mournful faces seen in the various lands of Westeros. Im a sucker for line flubbling, and its all the more hilarious when some of TVs most regal personalities are the ones making the faux pas.
Game Of Thrones is never able to show a ton of footage at Comic-Con because of how the shows shooting schedule works out. Given the almost absurd number of characters the HBO masterpiece follows, however, the event is a great price to drop casting news. And my God did we just get casting news.
Youtuber Alt Shift X alludes to the popular fan theory that it's not just Jon Snow's mother who is a mystery, but also his father. Of course, the late Ned Stark would have you believe that he is the dour young man's dad. But whenever pushed for the identity of Jon's mother, Ned was always painfully tight-lipped.
Notable absences are Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke and Lena Headey, but theyre all busy filming other things. Plus, theres probably some kind of a contractual limit as far as how many of these actors can appear together at the same time without someone pulling a sword out.
Nominations for the 66th Emmy Awards will be announced today! Last year's list of nominees included Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Girls and The Big Bang Theory, among others. Will those series make their way back onto the Outstanding Comedy and Drama list this time around?
As it turns out, Game of Thrones has some very relevant news, thanks to a visit from a very important British Monarch. Recently, the Queen of England popped over to see the set of HBOs hit series, and on Monday The Buzz and Game of Thrones released a cool behind-the-scenes video documenting the event.
This article contains spoilers for those who haven't read George R.R. Martin's 'A Storm of Swords,' the third novel in 'A Song of Ice and Fire.' But, since it looks like the event and/or character in question may never appear in Game of Thrones, reading this recent piece of news might not actually 'spoil' anything. Or maybe, you simply don't care and just want to see what all the fuss was about after the finale.
When it comes to setting records for things, HBOs fantasy epic Game of Thrones is something of a professional. Sundays Season 4 finale, The Children, was one of the series highest-rated episodes and took very little time at all to become the most pirated TV show in history.
Cersei Lannister has a real way with words. The woman knows how to deliver a biting remark, and that's as much a credit to Game of Thrones' writing and source material as it is to Lena Headey's timing and line delivery. Everything from the accent to the facial expressions to the inflection combines for some truly great Cersei moments in the HBO series...
Happy Fathers Day? Leave it to Game of Thrones to shit all over the nice holiday with its satisfying fourth season finale, aptly named "The Children." Perhaps, 'satisfying' is a bit of an understatement for the impeccably written, acted and directed episode but those who have read the books were pretty sure something was going to happen that didnt and the actual events, while very well done, couldn't live up to those expectations.
Game of Thrones Season 5 is a long way off but that doesn't mean it's too soon to start gathering information on the HBO fantasy's eventual return. While we don't know too many official details about next year, there have been a few tidbits released so far, including details about the cast, new locations and more...
This article obviously contains spoilers from the Game of Thrones Season 4 finale. If you don't want to know which character(s) met their demise during tonight's episode, read no further!
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What happens if you don't file your taxes?
This article was reposted from Consumer Reports, and written by Tobie Stanger. Union members who subscribe to ConsumerReports.org receive easy, online access to thousands of ratings on brand-name products and latest in consumer advice for only $22 per year. Click to get started >>
Even the most conscientious taxpayer might at some point be unable to file his or her tax return on time. If you end up in that situation, fear not—the Internal Revenue Service probably won't file criminal charges against you. But it will make every effort to collect its due, with interest and penalties.
Reasons for not filing vary, and some of them are valid. For example, generally a single person under age 65 with less than $10,000 in gross income isn't required to file a return. If you're 65 or older, the cutoff is $11,500. Different rules apply if someone else claims you as a dependent.
The IRS will find you
Otherwise, the IRS will eventually catch up with you. Most earnings are reported to the IRS on forms W-2 or 1099. The IRS also gets reports on investment income, pensions, real-estate sales, and so on. The agency matches that data with tax returns to make sure you're reporting it all. Nonfilers will have to pay tax on income that wasn't covered by payroll withholding, overpayments from a prior year, or quarterly estimated taxes. You'll owe interest, too, at rates in effect while the taxes were unpaid.
Penalties also might be imposed for failure to file and to pay. If you're owed a refund but you didn't file a return, you generally must file within three years from the date the return was due (including extensions, if you applied for any) to claim it. After that, you'll forfeit the money.
Coming clean
To reduce your exposure to those expenses, your best strategy is to file all missing tax returns. If you don't have records, call your local IRS office to ask for a transcript of your income data. In some cases, the IRS will use the income data to prepare returns for taxpayers who haven't filed. But it won't try to maximize tax deductions, exemptions, and credits. And it also won't calculate your cost basis on a sale of securities. You'll probably end up with a larger tax bill than if you prepared the returns yourself.
Once you submit the delayed returns, the IRS will calculate the interest and penalties you owe. If you don't pay in full, the agency might impose a federal tax lien—a legal claim on your property. It also might garnish your wages and even seize your property.
So it makes sense to pay what you can and try for an installment payment plan or an "offer in compromise," which is a settlement for less than the amount owed. The IRS will sometimes waive the penalties if you had a reasonable cause for not filing, such as a serious illness, a death in the family, or a natural disaster.
Not having the money to pay isn't considered a reasonable cause; in such cases the IRS prefers that you file a return and work out a payment schedule. You'll need to submit a detailed explanation along with any backup documentation (medical bills, insurance claims). Often, you'll have to pay all back taxes and interest before the IRS will drop penalties.


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As of Wednesday morning, fire officials were still determining the cause of an early morning fire that broke out in a garage and spread to a home at 5305 S. 28th St., Greenfield.
A call came in at 2:23 a.m. Wednesday, April 23, and by 2:50 a.m. the fire was under control. The garage containing a motorcycle was lost but the home was saved. Intense heat damaged cars parked in the driveway, melting the front end of the car closest to the garage.
Damage is estimated at roughly $100,000. The owner said he was awakened by loud houses that could have been explosions coming from the garage area.
The family of four got out safely. Greenfield firefighters rescued two cats and a bunny.
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We booked our stay at Arenal Nayara Hotel and Spa (Great Honey Moon resort), but decided to venture out since we rented our own car. We ended up getting great deals to excursions through the Tourism info center that is right down the street from Los Lagos. Some of which were actually directly through Los Lagos and on their massive grounds (Horse back riding, and zip lining). The hot springs are great to go to in the evening and when it is raining.
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
- Volcano Resort with 1050 acres of tropical forest and wide landscapes, clear, safe and spectacular view to Arenal Volcano, wide tropical gardens with butterflies, frogs, crocodiles and leave cutter ants. An exclusive resort with its own 13 platform Canopy Tours, Horseback Riding Tours, and spectacular observation point at the property, other facilities is an exclusive Spa facing a primary forest and surroundings of water and their signature Arenal Volcano Clay Wrap. At Los Lagos Resort we offer 7 different pools, 4 with natural hot springs and 3 regular water pools available. We offer 98 rooms, International restaurant, souvenir shop, tours, web bar and free internet. ... more less
- Reservation Options:
- TripAdvisor is proud to partner with Orbitz, Booking.com, Travelocity, Cheap Tickets, Caribbean Online Mgt Corp., Priceline, BookingOdigeoWL and Otel so you can book your Los Lagos Hotel Spa & Resort reservations with confidence. We help millions of travelers each month to find the perfect hotel for both vacation and business trips, always with the best discounts and special offers.
- Also Known As:
- Los Lagos Hotel La Fortuna De San Carlos
- Los Lagos Hotel Spa And Resort
- Hotel Los Lagos
- Los Lagos Hotel Spa & Resort Costa Rica/Arenal Volcano National Park


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New windmill technology gets a spin
While wind turbines are typically considered environmentally friendly, they seem to also be killing off some of natures very own inhabitants.
Author Archives
While wind turbines are typically considered environmentally friendly, they seem to also be killing off some of natures very own inhabitants.
A new rule is being pushed by the EPA in hopes that they can garnish wages for environmental offenses without needing a court order.
CFACT to legislators — Facts beat propaganda, so don't be intimidated and never back down!
Every American who still believes in honest science, accountable constitutional government – and the right of people everywhere to affordable energy and modern living standards – must tell these radical ideologues that this power grab will not be tolerated.
Acts of eco-terror are becoming more common and endorsed by supposedly mainstream environmental groups. Ron Arnold, author of EcoTerror: The Violent Agenda to Save Nature, is here to comment:
When it comes to global warming, melting ice caps and scorching heat waves often top the list of big worries. But now, just the act of worrying itself is allegedly becoming a new consequence of dreaded climate change.
It's been widely touted that 97% of scientists believe global warming is mostly driven by human activities. But according to meteorologist Anthony Watts, this alleged consensus is extremely deceptive.
No one likes seeing cigarette butts on the ground. But one creative artist in Hollywood decided to do something about it and made some interesting apparel from the butts he collected.
There's a growing idea out there that humanity is currently using up the resources of one and a half Earths each year, and that our ecological footprint is simply unsustainable.
In the wake of the tragic typhoon Yolanda that killed over 5,000 people in the Philippines, climate activists attempted to blame it on man-made global warming. Marc Morano, editor of ClimateDepot.com, says this is incorrect.
Many environmentalists want to stop the burning of coal for electricity. But a new report from the International Energy Agency says this abundant resource is critical for lifting people out of poverty.
You've already been vilified for contributing to alleged global warming when you power up your car or truck engine. But how about your computer's search engine?
The chemical Bisphenol-A, or BPA, found in plastic has been blamed for a variety of health problems recently, but are these concerns justified? Dr. Patrick Michaels of the Cato Institute says no and here explains why.
While the UN's latest global warming report rightfully lowers alarm about the link between climate change and extreme weather events, it does warn of increased risk of wildfires. But according to Dr. David Evans, a statistician and climate policy expert in Australia, it is fuel loads of combustible trees that pose the much greater risk.
In northern California, Chinook salmon have long been threatened in part because the young fish that swim from the Sacramento River to the ocean are often too small and helpless to escape the predators that eat them by the millions.
Those fearful about man-made global warming want to see stricter government regulations on carbon to stave off climate catastrophe. But according to the Center for the Study of Science, carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. from energy production and use have been declining since 2005.
One might say that the good people of Warsaw are Poles apart from the UN's view of fossil fuels, which amounts to an outright condemnation of coal and suspicion of oil and natural gas. CFACT President got perhaps the warmest reception of his life when he spoke at a Polish independence day celebration that was also broadcast live to millions more on Polish national television. His message was simple: the UN's clearly stated goal is worldwide wealth redistribution and a UN-headed global government — and the war on carbon is not about a cleaner environment or a more prosperous society at all.
Most people think of windmills as one of the cleanest, most earth-friendly energy sources around. But according to the Institute for Energy Research, rare earth minerals needed for windmills like neodymium and dysprosium are being mined in China and leaving behind horrible environmental conditions.
Washington Times: "President Obama promised [to]"fundamentally transform" our nation — to "protect" us from climate "cataclysms" that exist only in presidential speeches, Hollywood movies, U.N. computer models and EPA press releases.
The conference included representatives and spokesmen from the U.S., Italy, Sweden, Hungary, and Poland. They, along with a member of the EU Parliament, joined in lending strong criticism of climate change alarmism and the troubling globalist policies of the UN. At the conclusion of the gathering, they formally signed a declaration entitled "Address of Free Nations to Participants of UN Climate Summit (COP 19) – Let Us Revise Global Climate Policy" – or the Warsaw Declaration.


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The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products! To see the full list of winners check the Big News Forum at StampTV a few days after the hops.
Poster Board Christmas is a set which includes two wreaths for any season, berries (which fit into both wreaths) three beautiful sentiments which have eye-catching trendy fonts and a stamp with Santa and his sleigh. I am showcasing this wreath with rhinestone berries. I just love Moonlit Fog cardstock with white embossing. It is so peaceful.
For my next project, I thought I would go chalkboard bold, which I also LOVE.
This REALLY fun card features one of the sentiments from Poster Board Christmas as well as that topper stamp from my set last month, Beautiful Banners. I love what you can do with that stamp when you cut it in half. SO many cool options! Beautiful Banners is also the set with that great woodgrain background stamp that everyone loved in the last hop we did.
I made a cute tag gift set to go with that card. It would be nice for the recipient to have some tags for their Christmas gifts, and this was so easy to do. Just some punches, buttons and ribbons.
I made some more tags too, for the rustic lovers out there! I love a rustic look, and think this woodgrain background sets off everything so nicely.
Check out all the amazing designs and inspiration:
- Gina K
- Beth Silaika- Illustrator of Lots Of Lines
- Becky Oehlers – Illustrator of Poster Board Christmas
- AJ Otto
- Beth Silaika- Illustrator of Lots Of Lines
- Carolina Buchting
- Carolyn King
- Cathy Tidwell
- Debbie Corbari
- Latisha Yoast
- Laurie Schmidlin
- Lee Murphy
- Melanie Muenchinger
- Michelle Woerner
- Sean Fetterman
- Sharon Harnist
- Valerie Stangle


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Town Square
Environmental Volunteers rescues baby raccoons in Baylands
Original post made on Jul 4, 2012
Read the full story here Web Link posted Tuesday, July 3, 2012, 4:40 PM
Comments (4)
on Jul 4, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Could the mom be the one hit by a car on the freeway?
on Jul 5, 2012 at 7:52 am
cute while small but really let them stay in natural setting. not everything is meant to have a long life. wait till you find them in your home or haven't you noticed them usung the sewers to move around.
on Jul 5, 2012 at 1:44 pm
That's storm drains, not sewers.
on Jul 6, 2012 at 10:08 am
So the org profiled just helped, along with PAAS and it's PHS's Wildlife Rescue that's doing all of the work. Huh. Misleading headline because they just corralled the critters.
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Hmm. It's an odd saying, or a least one I've never heard before. Nonetheless, I believe it refers to conformity. The others are doing/agreeing to the same thing; it may be unconventional (i.e., walking on their heads) but that's what they, the majority, are doing.
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First POST: Incentives
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, December 10 2013
HealthCare.gov has turned the corner; David Karpf asks if Change.org is watering down its issues as its gains users; and everyone is worrying when the great Facebook News Feed crash will come; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Open Letters
BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, December 9 2013
(Most) big tech companies come out swinging against the NSA's bulk surveillance programs; Change.org hits the 50 million-user mark; an analysis of Facebook profiles and search data suggests that millions of American men, especially in the south, are still in the closet; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Snark vs. Smarm
BY Micah L. Sifry | Friday, December 6 2013
Tom Scocca's must-read "On Smarm"; Upworthy had 87 million visitors last month; President Obama promises NSA reforms; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: The Web We Want?
BY Micah L. Sifry | Thursday, December 5 2013
The NSA really has total information awareness; Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras give Edward Snowden some advice; BuzzFeed meets buzzsaw Dave Weigel; and much, much more. Read More
Ruck.us Dies Down; Yet Another Political Social Network Goes Bust
BY Micah L. Sifry | Wednesday, December 4 2013
For two years now, Ruck.us, the political social network start-up founded by political scions Nathan Dasche (aka Abu Tom, former Senate majority leader), and Raymond Glendening (aka Abu Parris, former Maryland governor) has gotten an unearned and adoring press from the usual places. But today, it's announcing a pivot, away from being a political social network for independent voters, and toward being a digital toolkit for political candidates. Read More
First POST: Civicus
BY Micah L. Sifry | Wednesday, December 4 2013
The nitty-gritty on Knight Foundation's new report on the state of civic tech investment; more from Pierre Omidyar and Jay Rosen on NewCo; waiting for heads to roll over HealthCare.gov; and much, much more. Read More
New Knight Report Maps Growing Civic Tech Ecosystem
BY Micah L. Sifry | Wednesday, December 4 2013
The Knight Foundation has released a fascinating and valuable, if incomplete, report on "The Emergence of Civic Tech: Investments in a Growing Field." It's the first major effort I've seen to define and map this growing space, and covers 209 companies that have received funding since 2011 in its purview. Read More
Interview: Why Fight For the Future Is Supporting Bitcoin
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, December 3 2013
Last week, Fight for the Future, the Internet freedom group that played a big role in kicking off the movement that stopped the SOPA and PIPA bills, announced that it was taking on a new cause: Bitcoin. Together with Bitcoin evangelist Jon Holmquist, they put together ">BitcoinBlackFriday.com" as a hub for more than 250 online vendors who are accepting the digital currency, some of them offering special deals through the site. The vendors include OK Cupid, Reddit, CheapAir.com, and the Internet Archive. What follows is a short interview with the group's co-founders as to why they're backing the controversial digital currency. Read More
First POST: Hanging By 834 Threads
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, December 3 2013
Is HealthCare.gov fixed, or will its ultimate fate be decided by the accuracy of the "834" forms it sends to insurers to finish each enrollment?; how Mexico's civic tech sector is making a difference; changes in Facebook's News Feed algorithm threaten the meme industry; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Privatization
BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, December 2 2013
The latest ups and downs of HealthCare.gov; PandoDaily.com absurdly accuses Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras of "privatizing" the Snowden Files; and will robot watchmen and drone deliveries be coming to your neighborhood soon? Read More


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On TVNext: Mon, Sep 15, 1:05 AM ET/PT on THE MOVIE CHANNEL
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A former kingpin of the streets, Miles Cain Skinner (Ving Rhames), is doing life in prison. He is feared and respected among the inmates. When Cain's nemesis, Redfoot, is transferred to the same prison, Cain's wrath is unleashed in a savage showdown with no surrendering, no retreating, and no mercy.


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Richie Kotzen talks new Essential album and memorable moments from his career.
Here are some guidelines that might help you find out!
From Elmore James to Sonny Landreth, here are 10 pieces of essential slide guitar listening.
Here's a photo gallery of Tiffany, the latest addition to the Girls of Guitar World.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, a quartet that hadn't shared a stage for nearly a decade, got together to perform at last weekend's Bridge School benefit concerts.
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Vendors interested in taking on two projects in the South Huntington school district pitched their services at a South Huntington school board meeting on Aug.16.
The two topics involve possible changes in how transportation is handled and whether the district needs all the buildings it now operates, with the future of the Silas Wood building a particular focus.
Joan E. Townley, planning services coordinator at Western Suffolk BOCES, said that a study of building needs would cover such categories as demographics, current and projected enrollment, facilities, options and other topics.
Tim Ammon of Management Partnership Services said a study of how to handle future busing operations would analyze current costs and policies but also examine contracts, management of time and distance and several other topics. He said his company could produce a study in about 90 days.
Patch asked Dr. David Bennardo, the school superintendent, about those projects.
Q. What are the costs of the contracts?
A. The study to determine additional cost savings within the Transportation Department is approximately $14,000. The study to determine feasibility and cost savings with closing the Silas Wood 6th grade center is $15,000, with more than 40% of that cost aid-able, meaning the district would be able to recoup or get BOCES aid for that amount.
Q. When do you expect the board to award them?
A. Possibly at the next BOE meeting scheduled for Sept. 5.
Q. When did the board vote to solicit the contracts?
A. At the end of the last school year.
Q. What are the target dates for implementation?
A. The studies would take approximately 90 day to complete. The BOE would like to have these studies done prior to the December holiday break so that the feasibility and financial impact (if any) could be presented to the community in the 12-13 budget workshops that begin on Feb.27.


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Certified baby.
(Source: cineraria)
onii-chan do u want to hit up the gym later?
(Source: best-of-memes)
(Source: onionsandheroin)
Clear's route be like
This is evil
(Source: hoodniggashit)
That's it that's the show
This is the only thing I need in life
gdi Swerve
/casually walks away like a poorly animated Ren.
now this is what i like to see… if i'm gonna buy some fancy new Strong Product i wanna see it beat the weaker version of itself into total useless garbage…… its called innovation and i've never been so happy to be a capitalist…
(Source: weirdnessisgood)
rEN rEn REn ReNN
bop it
(Source: kaninchen-junge)
(Source: memedong)
I hope this sinks in your hearts.
I'm so fucking tired of this shit
I just want it to stop.
this needs to end
sunvapor said: What the fucks happening in Ferguson?
Alright, i'm gonna sit down and basically explain the situation in this ask so everyone of my followers knows why i'm so pissed.
Michael Brown, a 17 - 18 year old african american boy was unlawfully shot (8-10 times supposedly) by police in St Louis, Missouri on saturday, august 9th, 2014. He was unarmed, and had done nothing to attract suspicion other than the fact that he was black. His body was left in the street for 4 hours. (EDIT: i've discovered that the Brown family wishes for any and all photos of Michael lying in the streets to be removed. please respect this and do so)
There are several claims from witnesses (see: Dorian Johnson's account and video [HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING UP ON HIS ACCOUNT, ITS VERY SPECIFIC] — Brown's friend who experienced the situation first hand, La'Toya Cash and Phillip Walker— Ferguson residents nearby the incident), that fall together in generally close claims. However, the only one who's claim seems out of place is the police officer's who shot Brown. Who, by the way, is put off on paid administrative leave AND who's name remained under anonymity for his safety (However, attorney Benjamin Crump is looking for a way to force release his name). He claims that Brown began to wrestle the officer for his gun and tried attacking him after he told Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson (22) to "get the f*ck on the sidewalk".
According to Johnson, after a minor confrontation on the officer's part where he grabbed Brown by the neck and then by the shirt, the officer pulled his gun on Brown and shot him at point blank range on the right side of his body. Brown and Johnson were able to get away briefly and started running. However, Brown was shot in the back, supposedly disabling him from getting very far. He turned around with his arms in the air and said "I don't have a gun, stop shooting!" By this point, Brown and the officer were face to face as the cop shot him several times in the face and chest until he was finally dead. Johnson ran to his apartment and by the sound of his account, seemingly had some sort of panic attack. Later he emerged from his home to see Brown still laying in the streets. People were gathered with their cellphones, screaming at the police.
According to msnbc, the police refuse to interview Johnson at all, despite his amazing courage to come forward. They didn't wanna hear it. They only listened to the cop's account of it all and were vague with the media on what they thought happened. They've also refused to commit to a timeline in releasing autopsy results and other investigation information.
Numerous rumors are sweeping around such as Brown stealing candy from a QuickTrip, the store he emerged from calling the cops on him, Brown reaching for a gun, Brown attacking the cop first, ect. But these have all been debunked. (I know a lot of these have been debunked, but im having a hard time finding sources. if anyone could help out and link some legit ones id be SO grateful)
The event in and of itself was terrible, but now it has escalated beyond belief. Around 100 or more people, mostly black, went to the police station to protest peacefully. Things quickly turned bad as martial law got involved and authorities were bringing in K9s, tanks, heavy artillery, ect. The heavy police presence only made things worse as riots began to break out and looting and vandalism started. [ x ] [ x ] [ x ]
Now, as of very recently, the media has been banned from Ferguson. There is also a No-Fly zone above Ferguson for the reason of " TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES " as said on the Federal Aviation Commission's website. Cop cars are lined up on the borders to prevent people from entering/leaving. Media outlets are being threatened with arrest. It completely violates our amendments and everything.
It's becoming increasingly scary and difficult to find out whats going on over there. I'm afraid this is all the information I have, though. If anybody else knows anything about the situation, please feel free to add on or correct any mistakes i've made as i'm no expert on writing these things.
And as a personal favor, i'd really appreciate anyone to give this a reblog in order to spread the word. I think it's a shame that this is going on in our own country yet so few people know about it. Help me make this topic huge and get this as much attention as possible.
Guys it's really important that you reblog THIS version of this post - the one going around now has a link to a picture of Mike Brown lying dead that his family has asked be taken down out of respect.


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Marshall Terry to receive 2012 SMU Literati Award
Posted on March 21, 2012 by Kathleen Tibbetts
Marshall Terry, the emeritus professor and alumnus affectionately known as "Mr. SMU," will be honored with the Friends of the SMU Libraries Literati Award at the 2012 Tables of Content dinner Saturday, March 31. The celebration begins at 6 p.m. … Continue reading →
Posted in Calendar Highlights, For the Record, News, Save the Date | Tagged alumni news, awards and honors, Becky Wade, Christine Warren, Christopher Heaney, Dominic Smith, faculty news, Friends of the SMU Libraries, Jo Whittemore, JoaquÍn Zihuatanejo, Literati Award, Marshall Terry, Matt Bondurant, Melissa A. Collins, Michael Anthony Steele, Michael H. Collins, Nancy George, P.J. Hoover, Paul Otremba, President's Scholars, SMU Libraries, student news, Tables of Content, Top 10 Haute Young Authors, Trigg Watson, visitors | Comments Off


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Kites Over The Crags.
Something a bit special and different, this is my first foray into wood block printing. Printed by hand onto cotton rag paper using an etched wooden block, each print has slightly different textures and inconsistencies. It'll be exhibited at the Red Door Gallery in Edinburgh during the festival this month, and you can get one of the 30 limited edition prints exclusively from them for £75.
Yesterday I made a huge selection of my designs available as shirts on Society6. You can now choose from a whopping 29 designs in my permanent collection. Enjoy!
This happened while I was away over the last few weeks- new design 'Juniper' was released on nice girls shirts at threadless. I'm extremely happy with how it looks.
Not every public health disaster can be described in numbers. From its beginning, They Go to Die has been more than just a documentary on tuberculosis and HIV in the mining industry. It has been a movement of understanding, compassion, and family. Stepping away from the discussion of disease, our goal is to show this complex issue in the broader context of life, family, and relationships.
I've entered a few illustrations into Ohh Deer's current competition to find their next contributor. They are an awesome group full of illustration goodness, and I need your help in convincing them to choose me!
You can see my three entries here and you can boost by chances by employing your social media skills and sharing/liking/tweeting etc from each product page. The best support you can possibly show is by buying a shirt- they will only be available for a limited time so this is your chance!
Here's another brilliant way to get your hands on art prints by me. I've just launched my work at INPRNT, a great art site with loads of amazing artists. Take a look here
How amazing is this- a bunch of fourth grade kids have been working hard on their own versions of my artwork as part of their art class! Here are some of their incredible finished pieces- they definitely give me a run for my money as an illustrator. It might be time to move aside for the next generation!
You can see more of them posted online here
Everything at Society6 has free shipping until this Sunday. Why don't you treat yo' self?
Byzantium tote bag, from $18
Loads of art prints and other stuff by me at Society6
New print just out- Byzantium
Here's some of the awesome things you can get with my new design 'Serenissima', all from Society6. I'm particularly excited about the new clocks they have.
New print at Society6
Society6 have a nice site redesign and I spotted this banner on their front page, featuring a humungous art print of my illustration 'Diamond'. I've never seen my art so big!
Signed prints available for a limited time from my online print store. Free delivery to anywhere on earth!
I've reopened my online print store for just one week, so you can grab my prints off me in the run up to Christmas. Numbers are extremely limited so get in fast, there's free delivery worldwide! I'll be shutting up shop on 15th December so don't miss out!
The Baltic Sea- Designed by David Fleck
Engraved wood iPhone case- The Joy Collection


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Westfield Republican39 E Main St, Westfield, NY 14787
Email this business
(716) 326-3163 Additional Contacts
In publication for more than 140 years, The Westfield Republican was founded in 1855, the first republican newspaper in the United States. Intended as a voice for the recently formed party, The Republican was built on its principles, at a time when, according to Thomas Jefferson, "the natural ally of slavery in the South was then Democracy in the North." In response to this thinking, the new Republican party was formed, and The Westfield Republican along with it. Now published weekly each Thursday, The Westfield Republican is a community newspaper, with a hometown voice which speaks directly to the community it serves. Located in Westfield, New York, a village rich in history and a favorite stop on the Seaway Trail, the paper reaches local subscribers in Chautauqua County and those who look to it from afar for a piece of home. Located in the southwestern corner of New York State on the Shore of Lake Erie, Westfield is in the Chautauqua Region, an area rich in tourist attractions all year round. We're an hour from Buffalo, 35 minutes from Erie, Pennsylvania, two and a half hours from Cleveland, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Route 17 and I-90 provide arterials for easy access by car, or you can fly into Chautauqua County Airport, located just north of Jamestown, NY on USAir Express commuter flights from Pittsburgh several times each day.


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- Archaeology
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Taming Azeroth
Holy Crap! I just one-shot Aki the Chosen earning me the Taming the World, Time to Open a Pet Store, Taming Pandaria and Taming Azeroth achievements.
I was looking forward to trying her today after the servers came back up but I was really not expecting to win right off the bat… seems my rare team of my Flayer Hatchling (25), Small Frog (25) and Dark Phoenix Hatchling (25) all worked out nicely. In fact, my ravager's reflection ability was perfect against Stormlash.
The second time round (after she converts to a daily), I managed to win again – even with a different starting combo.
Due to a bug, I've had Taming Eastern Kingdoms done for a couple of weeks now but the achievement doesn't come up as complete.
I still have a few missing from Eastern Kingdoms Safari so I went looking for some Larva to add to my collection but they are about as rare as the minfernal and baby ape it seems. I read they get killed quite a lot by other mobs in Ghostlands but here I am waiting for one to spawn.
I may just go to Naxx to get one and be done with it…
Edit: I managed to find one as part of a team I was fighting. Grey but it counts…
This entry was posted by Cymre on October 17, 2012 at 2:00 pm, and is filed under Pet Battles. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.
For the larva I ran down the Dead Scar and battled anything I saw and got a larva as a second attacking pet. They seemed to turn up more at the higher level end of the scar.
My Eastern Kingdoms safari achievement doesn't show up either due to bugs :(
Good luck!
Sephrenya recently posted One Week In Pandaria
Thx, that's what I ended up doing :)
Cymre recently posted Taming Azeroth
Woohoo nice work! I also have been killing her as a daily since she's just sitting outside and it's not too hard with good old Grell against that dragon.
My one has never come up completed even though I have all of them ticked but I still have tamer so i'm not complaining! :D
Grats on Taming Azeroth! I am using Tamer for a while as my title until everyone gets it and then I'll switch back to good old Salty again :)
Thx :) I did the same thing with the title, I'm working one getting a new title for Cymre Jones though.
I decided to do that yesterday, I completed the Kalimdor ones again but you don't get the goodie bag so I think I'll just stick to the ones in Pandaria from now on too. I find Farmer Nishi the easiest.
Cymre recently posted One Steppe Forward, Two Steppes Back
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text: This is a project to improve my photography and also document miscellaneous people, places and events in Thompson's Station, Williamson County, and the greater Nashville area, Tennessee. My goal: post a photograph every day in 2011 - a photo taken on that day. Enjoy, and please comment if you'd like.


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Ambulatory Surgery Center Leadership Profile: Specialty Surgery Center Director Phillip Santillanes
Specialty Surgery Center in San Antonio. He has more than 17 years of experience in healthcare delivery systems and led clinical teams and hospital departments in addition to his current role at the multispecialty ambulatory surgery center.
Recently, Mr. Santillanes became a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He has taken his leadership experience over the years and applied it to ensuring Specialty Surgery Center runs smoothly and efficiently with motivated staff and satisfied physicians.
"I believe in promoting a healthy organizational culture through transformational leadership," says Mr. Santillanes. "Being consistently engaged with the team at the point of patient care enables me to recognize and harness the talents of the team."
Mr. Santillanes subscribes to a "shared leadership" philosophy that gives staff members training and autonomy to make effective decisions on behalf of the organization.
"Utilizing the collective ideas of the team and involving them in the vision fosters a collaborative culture of accountability and pride," he says. "I strive to influence my team toward the achievement of the vision we collectively create."
The five operating suites at the center are always busy and may seem chaotic, but those who look closer will see the staff are actually moving in an expertly choreographed routine because the staff members at the center are truly masters of their craft, says Mr. Santillanes.
"The people who make up the team at SSC are a group of the most talented individuals in the city," he says. However, professional talent isn't the only quality that sets SSC apart. Surgeons drive across town to perform cases during their block time; patients consistently call the center to thank them for a wonderful experience; the center takes pride in consistent efficiency.
Mr. Santillanes believes the family culture at the ASC makes it special.
"We are family," he says. "We fight with each other, by each other, but always for each other. We are loyal and proud of who we are. We represent excellence and are committed to our patients. We are a team. We are what makes Specialty Surgery Center so 'special.'"
More Articles on Surgery Centers:
15 Statistics on Surgery Center Payer Mix
Industry Moves: 5 ASC Leaders Taking on New Roles
Benchmarking, Quality Improvement & Cost Savings: 8 Key Steps
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Book Clubs & Writers' Groups
Library Branch
This workshop is geared towards parents who experience more than average levels of stress either from the traumatic birth of their child, or by raising a child with medical or mental health complications. Participants will l...
Want to write your own story? Want to explore writing creative non-fiction? Come meet local author Donna Kakonge, an author of several published works, including "How to talk to crazy people" "How to write creative non-fictio...
Evergreen Book Club members meet to discuss and vote on the Ontario Library Association's 2014 Evergreen Nominees. Please register at the informtion desk.
Join Library staff and discuss new books and timely favourites....
Thu Oct 02
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Aimez-vous lire en français? Si vous voullez participer à des discussions stimulantes contactez Céline au 416 395-5762.
Tue Sep 30
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Long Branch
Join in a monthly discussion on selected books. Call 416-394-5320 to obtain more information.
Tue Sep 30
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Tue Dec 16
Come and meet people, enjoy a cup of tea and discuss selected Book Club Books.
Wed Sep 24
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Join in an engaging discussion about a different book each month. For more information contact the Branch at 416-394-5310.
Mon Sep 22
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Don Mills
Join us for stimulating conversation. You and your fellow book club members decide in advance which books you want to read. New members are always welcome.
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Northern District
The Older Women's Network invites women, midlife and older, to meet in Room 224 and share views and ideas about selected books. The focus is on feminist issues. New members welcome....
Wed Sep 17


text: The Wheel of the Year involves eight solar holidays (the sabbats). The sabbats include the solar quarter days (the solstices and the equinoxes) as well as the solar cross-quarter days intermediate between the quarters. For theistic Wiccans, these days symbolize events in the life-cycles of the god and goddess. These days are marked by sabbat [Read More...]


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Veteran Italian filmmaker [[Performer~P81701~Bernardo Bertolucci~bernardobertolucci]] directs the erotic drama The Dreamers, adapted from the novel The Holy Innocents: A Romance by [[Performer~P315253~Gilbert Adair~gilbertadair]]. American student Matthew ([[Performer~P291783~Michael Pitt~michaelpitt]]) is studying in Paris during the politically turbulent late '60s. The story begins in 1968 with the firing of [[Performer~P187992~Henri Langlois~henrilanglois]], the founder of the French Cinémathèque. At a protest demonstration, Matthew meets cinema-obsessed Isabelle ([[Performer~P376643~Eva Green~evagreen]]) and her twin brother, Theo ([[Performer~P294540~Louis Garrel~louisgarrel]]). When their Bohemian parents ([[Performer~P59661~Robin Renucci~robinrenucci]] and [[Performer~P195452~Anna Chancellor~annachancellor]]) leave for the summer, the twins invite Matthew to live with them. While the revolution rages on outside, the three young people stay in the comfortable flat playing decadent sexual games. [[Performer~P81701~Bertolucci~bernardobertolucci]] incorporates clips from classic films like [[Feature~V39808~Queen Christina~queenchristina]], [[Feature~V3865~Band of Outsiders~bandeàpart]], and [[Feature~V7054~Breathless~breathless]]. After showing at several European film festivals, The Dreamers made its U.S. premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.


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