Samantha Pierce

What Kind of Cross are You? You are St Brigid's Cross: St. Brigid is an Irish saint who hand-wove a cross,out of rushes she found by the river. She made the cross while explaining the passion of our Lord to a pagan man. Take this quiz ! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code Which Saint Would You Be? Saint Gereon is praying for you! To learn more about this Roman martyr go to the Patron Saint Index at http://www.catholic-forum.com Take this quiz ! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code And because I'm not Catholic and know nothing about this kind of stuff, Saint Brigid's cross and Saint Gereon .

This makes me feel so vindicated. In Favor of Mess Talk of the Nation, December 28, 2006 · Dave Freedman, co-author Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder , and Cathy Waddill, an author and professional organizer, discuss whether the moderately messy are more efficient, more resilient and more creative.

I heard parts of this story some time ago and thought it sounded like the story of my life. I got to hear more of it as it was rebroadcast a few days ago and it still sounds a lot like my life. I highly recommend listening to the interview. I'll put the book on my birthday list and see if I get it. Mary Beth Busby & Megan Massey: "Dear Megan: Letters on Life, Love and Fragile X Two mothers of sons with Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental retardation and autism, share stories of grief and triumph. Guests Mary Beth Busby, a founding board member of the Fragile X Research Foundation (FRAXA). Megan Massey, registered nurse and vice president of the Board of Directors of FRAXA.

A belated Merry Christmas to you all! Today I am thankful for/that: We had a nice quiet and stress free Christmas at home this year. Of course I spent quite a bit of the day on the phone pestering my sisters to open the presents I had made for them. I've found a dentist. They take my insurance and they are giving me a referral to get my wisdom teeth out (finally). They're also going to try to do something about my molar that is mostly filling. Ethan's communication skills are continuing to develop. Isaiah has calmed down a lot in the last few months. He's been home from school for a week and he hasn't caused any where near as much trouble as he would have in the past. Unseasonably warm weather. It has been very good for our heating bill. Has another whole year gone by already? What are you thankful for?

Today I am thankful for/that: Unseasonably warm weather resulting in lower than expected heating bills. The opportunity to network with and be encouraged by other parents of autistic children. The gift of the life of Jesus Christ. I got all of the Harry Potter movies to date for Christmas. Now I don't have to send hubby off to video rental place when I need a Harry Potter fix. Sophia now knows the difference between a stick of lip balm and a glue stick. Unfortunately she used that knowledge to glue several puzzle pieces to Ethan's bedroom floor. Fortunately that's all she glued to the floor. Isaiah enjoys his new school so much. Those who choose to do what is right even when it is unpleasant and unpopular. What are you thankful for?

Blogger has got a new format that I'm trying out. I haven't figured out how to tweak to get closer to what my old template looked like yet. They've got things called widgets that are easy to use but are so difficult for me to manipulate in html. I've taken advantage of some new features by changing the back ground colour in observance of Advent. I'm a little behind on the whole celebrating Advent thing seeing as how this is the first time that I'm officially celebrating it at home. By next year I should have it all figured out. See Advent and the Christian Year and How to make and use an Advent wreath for more on Advent.

I just realised that I missed my bloggiversary earlier this month. I've been complaining out loud on this blog for three years now. It has certainly been a character building experience. Thanks for the memories folks. Let's see how much longer this can last.

The following is my annual posting of rules for buying presents for other people's kids. You may also want to check out this site as you shop, www.toysafety.org With Christmas fast approaching the great commercial juggernaut is on the move ready to part you from your money. There was a sign at the front of our local Walmart last Friday that read, "4 Saturdays left until Christmas." Many of you will have to venture out into the sea of materialism to hunt for toys for the wee ones in your lives. For those of you who don't have any at home I've devised a list of rules to help keep you on the good side of the parents of the wee ones. The list is entitled, How to buy toys for other people's kids so that they won't end up hating you and wanting to throw you and the toys out of the nearest highrise window. Don't buy any electronic noise making toys that don't have volume control. Don't buy any electronic noise making toys that don't have an on-of...

They call it lake effect and it totally caught me off guard on Monday. After the mild weather we'd been having lately I wasn't ready for the sudden turn about to winter. The first warning should have been the light dusting of snow on the ground when I woke up that morning. It was icy cold when I took Isaiah out to the bus. But by the time I took Ethan out the sun had cleared the tops of the neighhbours' houses and it had warmed up a few degrees. Later I decided to walk down to Ethan's school for the classroom observation I had arranged for that day. It started snowing around mid-morning and I began to regret not driving over to the school. The kids went out to play just before lunch. They were all excited by the "blizzard" as one kindergartener called it but the grown-ups were eager to hurry back inside. The kids were running all over the place shouting, trying to make snowballs, and trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues. Ethan came back with his back a...

The big bad weather that was coming this way didn't quite make it. This time last year I was fishtailing when I tried to get out of my driveway. We did get a lot of wind, rain, and wild temperature fluctuations. At one point yesterday afternoon the windows suddenly fogged over from the outside. By the time the boys got home from school they were seriously over dressed. The backyard was a big pond for awhile but we're used to that around here. I'm sure the kids had fun splashing through it on the way to the car.

Fun with science edition. I'm still on my geology/astronomy kick from when I took the kids to the local science museum. Check this stuff out. A funky solar plume . Here are some sun facts . We are about 92.96 million miles from that giant fire ball. If the earth shifted a little either way we'd either be burnt toast ala Venus , It may be the least hospitable place for life in the solar system. The pressure of Venus' atmosphere at the surface is 90 atmospheres (about the same as the pressure at a depth of 1 km in Earth's oceans). It is composed mostly of carbon dioxide. There are several layers of clouds many kilometers thick composed of sulfuric acid. These clouds completely obscure our view of the surface. This dense atmosphere produces a run-away greenhouse effect that raises Venus' surface temperature by about 400 degrees to over 740 K (hot enough to melt lead). Venus' surface is actually hotter than Mercury's despite being nearly twice as far from the...