Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for/that:

1. Hubby's sensitive hearing was on and heard Isaiah whining in bed last night.


2. I got Isaiah to the bathroom before he threw up last night. Unfortunately I couldn't get him to lean over the toilet but the bathroom floor and the clothes on it needed to washed anyway.


3. I bought two bottles of laundry detergent at the grocery store last night.


4. I had a towel handy when Jewel tossed her cookies all over before finally falling asleep last night.


5. Judging by Sophia's quick recovery (yeah it's that kind of week) this stomach bug is of the 24 hour variety.


6. Hubby, Ethan, and I have thus far been spared an attack of the stomach bug but that may just be a matter of time.


7. Whatever else I might have been thankful for this week has completely left my mind but God knows it all.

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for that:

1. My computer seems to be unscathed by falling off of a table that was kicked over by the baby.



2. frdv45vhh8yytjik
   
   gdchxxxxxxxxxxxxtxxxxxxxhb xxnnnnnngt7tt7yybbbbok vkjhbuyh9mo;o

   Jewel's first attempt at blogging. She also managed to open up another tab in Firefox.


3. Five o'clock in the evening isn't as dark as it was a month ago.


4. Isaiah's hideously expensive communication device should be in our eager hands in about 2 weeks God willing


5. Experience. Particularly when it can be of use to someone else.

What are you thankful for?

Giggles

From the comments on this 2005 post:

April 1, 2008: "Your blindspots are showing." "I'll forgive your ignorance this time, but try to see beyond your noses."

January 16, 2009: "You're white..."

The only picture I have of myself on this blog is the South Park cartoon avatar at the top of the left sidebar.

(Fixed the date for the January comment.)

Change Meets the American Public

I've been poking around at Change.gov of late to see what the President elect has in store for us. His team has developed a website that is supposed to give the American people a platform to voice their concerns to Obama's administration. The problem is that anybody can get on their soap box, even those with questionable connections to reality and little understanding of how government and America works. Check out the Citizen's Briefing Book, where people can post proposals to be voted on by site users, and see how many mentions of UFOs you come across in 10 minutes. I lost count.

It seems that the site has attracted the attention of a host of highly motivated but woefully misinformed individuals. I would hope that the incoming administration has enough sense to recognise crack pot theories when they see them. But since we're talking about politicians and their cronies why don't some of y'all reading this go on over and take a look see. He's your president after all.

Update: After reading through some more of the proposals and the comments on them I am reminded of a small child stomping its foot and pouting demanding, "I want what I want and I want it now!"

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Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for/that:

1. My hard drive didn't die after I dropped my computer. I was not looking forward to that kind of drama again.


2. The new furnace.


3. Experience.


4. Phone calls from friends asking, "Hey do you need/want..." just about the time I start thinking, "Hey we could use..."


5. Friends.


6. Wrestling the baby for the spoon at meal time.

What are you thankful for?

Resistance to the Antivaccine Crusade

The New York Times is covering the rising resistance to those who claim that vaccines cause autism.

Book Is Rallying Resistance to the Antivaccine Crusade
Dr. Offit’s book, published in September by Columbia University Press, has been widely endorsed by pediatricians, autism researchers, vaccine companies and medical journalists who say it sums up, in layman’s language, the scientific evidence for vaccines and forcefully argues that vulnerable parents are being manipulated by doctors promoting false cures and lawyers filing class-action suits.

“Opponents of vaccines have taken the autism story hostage,” Dr. Offit said. “They don’t speak for all parents of autistic kids, they use fringe scientists and celebrities, they’ve set up cottage industries of false hope, and they’re hurting kids. Parents pay out of their pockets for dangerous treatments, they take out second mortgages to buy hyperbaric oxygen chambers. It’s just unconscionable.”

It was fairly obvious to me even before we got an official diagnosis of autism that there were a lot of people out to squeeze as much money as they could out of people who were still dazed and confused about their child's autism diagnosis. Here's hoping that the rest of the country catches on to the charlatans before any more harm is done autistic individuals and the public health of the nation. Then we can get on to discussing things of real importance to autistics like support for students in the classroom, research into the best teaching strategies for autistic students, and support for adult autistics in the workplace.

Hat tip Instapundit.

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Race in Europe

NPR is doing a series on how Obama's election to the Presidency of the United States is playing in Europe. The series, Obama's Election Prompts Soul-Searching In Europe, looks Germany, Italy, and France. As it turns out the grass isn't as green on the other side when it comes to race.

German Minorities Still Fight To Be Seen, Heard
In Europe, Barack Obama's election as president of the United States was met with euphoria. But now, the continent is peering into the mirror, realizing there is little chance a member of one of its own minorities could reach such prominence any time soon.

Take Germany, for instance, where notions of national identity are still strictly linked to ethnicity. Nonwhite Germans are still fighting to overcome exclusion from mainstream society in many ways.

I always found it amusing when someone popped up in a blog discussion somewhere to claim that Europe was so much better than the US with regard to race relations. Perhaps now we can lay that particular misconception to rest.

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Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for/that:

1. A comfortably sleeping baby.


2. Homemade bread hot out of the oven.


3. The quiet after bedtime.


4. A warm place to lay my head at night.

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

I got carried with cleaning today and completely forgot about my plan to do this first thing this morning. So before I forget entirely, today I am thankful for/that:

1. I got some of the house cleaned up with the help of hubby and the kids.


2. The kids helped clean up. Threatening to throw their stuff out if they don't pick up after themselves is proving quite effective. I've only had to throw out a few items to let them know that it's not an empty threat. (Said items will eventually make a miraculous reappearance though.)


3. "Karen" who reminded me that getting the house cleaned up was something to be thankful for.


4. The opportunity to laugh about the perpetuity of housework.


5. Another year of life gone by. This getting older thing is, um,interesting.


6. All of the lessons learned this year whether I liked learning them at the time or not.


7. The opportunity to learn new lessons in the coming year whether I'll like it or not at the time.


8. The growth and development of the kids over the past year.


9. Jewel, the newest addition to the clan.


10. The peace that lets one weather the storm.


11. The grace and mercy that was shown to us that we can pass on to others.


12. The knowledge that I am not alone and that others have walked this road before me learning a few tricks along the way that they can share.

What are you thankful for?