Quote of the Week

"Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind - listen to the birds. And don't hate nobody."

Eubie Blake

Random Stuff Friday

1) I've been about 4 weeks off soda / coffee (essentially caffeine) and each morning I am still waking asking myself "WTF was I thinking??" Still not sure the answer to this question...

2) Had a girls night with a good friend. Dinner and Magic Mike. Channing Tatum (yum!), Alex Pettyfer (needed a shower & shave), Matt Bomer (definitely not Neal Caffrey). I mean, awesome, right? Well ...

Then had convo w/my 20yo sister.
Her: What did you think of Magic Mike?
Me: Different than I expected.
Her: How?
Me: Grittier. It was a really good story, though. I liked it.
Her: You're a nerd.
Me: I know.
Her: Who goes to a stripper movie for the story???
Me: A writer.

3) You may have seen on my FB, but I recently discovered and lovelovelove this new line of products from a company called Norwex. If you are at all conscientious of the environment, or being chemical-free and gree in your home, or you just want to cut your cleaning time by up to 75% (mememe!!), check it out HERE! I don't usually endorse any specific products, other than, yanno, books or writing related schtuff, but this was something I had to share. Why? Well, because if you can clean your house that much faster, you get that much more time to read and write!! Duh.

4) We start another #APirateTrip in about 6 days. And 15 hours. Not that I'm counting down or anything.

5) Althought it's been more than 100 days, we're doing a traditional Laotian 100 Days Rememberance Ceremony for my mom this weekend. Modern-day schedules simply didn't allow for us to be able to do the ceremony at the actual 100 days, but I don't think Mom will mind. So this weekend = Family time :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Great Cause

I don't generally use my blog as a means to solicit, but this is a great cause supported by one of my dear friends. I know there's always a cause to support, someone who needs help, both here at home and abroad, but this is one of those situations where it really does put into perspective what we are so lucky to have.

L.T. Elliot is a part of a team working to raise funds on behalf of special needs kids in Nicaragua. The Los Pipitos School in San Juan del Sur helps educate and enrich the lives of children who, due to their limited abilities, would be otherwise unable to take advantage of a regular classroom education. In early August, volunteers are going to Nicaragua to bring school supplies and funds to help keep the school running.

 

About The School

This special needs school provides an educational experience for the mentally and physically disabled that a regular school cannot. Their goal is to help their students develop to their full abilities and be able to live as normal and independent lives as their disabilities will allow. Disabilities range from cerebral palsy to Down syndrome to mental retardation and brain damage. Beyond the classroom, they provide activities that these children would not otherwise be able to do, including teaching them to surf, dance, and make music.

What they need

It costs the foundation $150 per month to pay for the teacher’s salary and $200 per month to pay for bus transportation for the students at the school. Many of the students are confined to wheel chairs and live in communities with dirt roads; therefore if the foundation does not transport them to school then they will not be able to attend. Also, they desperately need school supplies. Unfortunately they cannot rely on the postal system to receive the supplies so they rely on visitors to bring supplies with when traveling to Nicaragua.

How you can help

All children deserve an education, and too often special needs children are overlooked. In order to keep the school in operation for another year, it's our intention to raise $4,200 to go toward teacher's salaries and the cost of transportation for the children. The remaining portion will be used to buy and transport school supplies as well as help the school to buy new chairs, desks, and chalkboards for the classrooms. Help these children by being the change you want to see in the world. No contribution is too small: $1, $5, whatever your can give; every dollar counts. Time is short and we need your support to give these children hope for a brighter future!

http://www.indiegogo.com/CasaLlanta?c=home

You can follow the cause on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HelpLosPipitos

Quote of the Week

"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."

Oscar Wilde

Should Be

Tomorrow there should be cake.

There should be ice cream.

There should be singing and smiles.

And fifty-two candles.

And Mom.

July 9, 1960 - January 12, 2012

Miss you, Mom. 

Random Stuff Friday

#1) Happy Friday! I don't know about you guys, but however weird it may be to have a holiday in the middle of a week and get that day off, I could really get used to having a "mini-weekend" in the middle of every week!

#2) Remember how last week I told you about our family's big fireworks and bbq extravaganza? Well, we were very careful, what with all the fire restrictions and wildfires burning in Utah right now, we even had a couple of people assigned as firefighters, just in case. Everything was going great. And then a police officer appeared. There was that OMG moment everyone had. Followed by a "It's only June 30th. You have to wait until July." Followed by a big group SIGH. At which point my cousin, Captain Fireworks, decided we would postpone the rest of the show until Tuesday night. Especially since if we kept going, we figured the officer would come back and give us the $10,000 fine and no one wanted that. How's that for extravaganza?

#3) I've been working through revisions for L'Agent and finally caved from attempting to revise on the computer. I'm old school when it comes to revisions, which is something I'm trying to work on, what with the movement to be all green and environmentally friendly and what not. But I printed out my ms. All 309 pages of it. At least it's on recycled paper, right?

#4) It's officially 13 days until our family vacation. Can I just say how excited I am? Things have been turning a bit into a loony bin around here and I canNOT wait for an escape!

#5) Yay rain! Yesterday it rained in Utah after 38 straight dry days. And we desperately needed it! It seems there's a new fire somewhere in the state everyday, but yesterday's moisture definitely helped to quell that. And cool things off for us a bit too!

Hope everyone has a happy Friday and a great weekend!

Quote of the Week

"It would be great on this Monday morning, if Gmail would actually, yanno, let me open my email."

me

... already, it's one of those days *sigh*