The Day Frog Turtle Came to Live With Hope

Hope likes to check out things on the computer with me. One of her favorite stops is Michelle's blog ...Rambling Woods

Hope is thoroughly convinced that Michelle is a "zoologist"; a profession Hope learned about at the science center. In many ways Hope's right. Michelle is a champion for nature and one of the most informed people I've ever known.

Both Michelle and Hope love frogs and so, when Michelle told me she was sending Hope a little toy critter, I assumed it was a frog. It was a turtle. Not to worry. As Hope opened the package she exclaimed "it's a turtle, a turtle, I love turtles!!. They have their own homes you know."

Turtle joined Hope in preparing morning tea.

One must always freshen up after tea.

I will admit that not every moment is magical. I am trying to teach Hope that she needs to do things that interest other people; not everyone is into pink and princesses and tea parties. Sometimes these moments get a wee bit dramatic.

There's cajoling and there's tot rage.

It never lasts long (especially when a new turtle is involved) and Hope soon remembers that she likes lots of things.

Like football. She loves football. One of her first words was "touchdown".

We decided to test turtle's athletic ability.

Typical Jet, he couldn't get down field. Hope decided to pull a Belichick and cheat. She'd airlift turtle into the end zone.

After that there was no end to where turtle could go and what he could do.

And so 'Frog Turtle' is settled into his new family. Comfy and cozy and loved. 

I'm sure you've noticed that turtle wears the pink ribbons of breast cancer awareness and that Hope is wearing a pink 'Girls Fight Hard' bracelet. Michelle sent these things because Hope and Nana are on her team. The team that supports her and cheers her along as she becomes a breast cancer survivor.

I wanted to fix my hair and put on some make-up so we could take a photo together to send Michelle. 

"You look fine Nana"

"I look tired and messy"

"You look fine Nana. You said I didn't need lipstick. So you don't need it too."

Ah, my words used against me.

At the last moment, as I tried to get us into the frame and balance the camera, Hope put her "spring glasses" on me.

"Wear sunglasses Nana, that's what models do when they don't want people to see them"

One last thing. I didn't feel Hope was old enough for a discussion about cancer but I did realize that she understood that the ribbons and bracelet stood for something and she does know that sometimes people get very sick. I told her that Michelle had some problems the way I had problems with my back and my muscles.

"So Michelle has back problems too?"

"No, Michelle has some trouble with her breasts"

"You mean boobies" Hope says smiling. I say yes, fine, we'll call them boobies.

"Tell Michelle it's OK, boobies are pretty silly anyway"

And on we go ...

I'm With Brilliant

I've mentioned before that my friends Jay and Matt-Man host a show called "I'm With Stupid" on Blog Talk Radio.

On yesterday's show Jay and Matt took a fork off their usual road of hilarity and irreverence to help aid awareness of the horrible problem of Human Trafficking. Their guest Katherine is an activist in the fight against human trafficking and shared a lot of interesting and surprising information and experiences.

Please go to the official site of  I’M WITH STUPID   and check out today's post. There are links to 3 major organizations dealing with human trafficking. You can also listen to yesterday's show. I was honored to call in and ask Katherine some questions.

You can change - maybe even save - the life of an exploited person, often a child.

I have shared here that I grew up in an abusive and neglectful home. From as early as 8 or 9 I can remember knowing that I had to take care of myself and, as the oldest, look out for my siblings.

I found myself in many situations where I was vulnerable to those who prey on at risk children. It is a lost and empty feeling.

As humans sharing the same air we need to reach out to those most in danger.

Thanksgiving

After my town survived Hurricane Sandy it seems even more important to be grateful.

I'm grateful for the safety of my family.

I'm grateful for the people who always show up to help

I'm grateful for Siren and Isadora. They brighten any day and love unconditionally.
In their own way of course - they are cats.

I'm grateful for all of you. I realized it again when I couldn't share the storm with you and I worried about you worrying about me.

Most of all I'm grateful for Hope.

And on we go ...

I Was Worried About the Worrying

First of all, thanks to my friend Jay S from Bailey’s Buddy  for listening to me ramble from a bad cell connection in my running car and getting online so he could publish the previous post for me.

All through the week I had tried to find internet service or call someone with no luck. My cell appears to have been damaged when the power first surged and it doesn't hold a charge for long. And there weren't any resources around.

I was so worried about all of you worrying about me. And Hope.
I don't take our friendship lightly.

So
I have so many stories to tell but my internet and phone service is still dicey so I'm going to post a few pics I got from NJ.com and from the Keyport Boat Club. Pics of places I love that are forever changed.

 The Seaside Heights roller coaster.

 A beautiful home in Union Beach that I have driven past and admired many times.

 Flooded and burned homes in Breezy Point. I have spent many summer weekends there.

 This was a main road near me.

Hot Dog Bobs - I've posted pics from here of the giant inflated hot dog and Fourth of July decorations

 The Inn at the marina. I sat by that window and had brunch many times.

 The corner where the Keyport mosaic stood. The trailer office for the boat ramp was pushed all the way up the street by the force of the wind and water.

These last few shots are all of my beloved marina. The spot where I had early morn coffee with the "old guys", where I fed the birds and watched the sky and waves and boats.

I have learned a new term - "disaster tourism"
People drive about looking for devastation to point at and take photos of.
I have not ventured around much, after 3 hours on a gas line you don't feel like driving.
I leave my camera at home. I saw a woman screaming at a car full of people who had stopped to take photos of her home. She was crying and telling them "this is my home, this is my home".

I love youse guys

Siren on Katz

Stop watching me! I'm fine. The meds worked. I'm trying to sleep.

Before I turn around and settle in I want to tell you about Ellen.

She has a blog called Katz Tales

She helps lots of cats in her neighborhood and is offering her e-books to help raise money for them. They are very very reasonably priced. I can't read but I imagine they are good since they make Mom laugh. She's difficult to amuse.

This post will help explain what Ellen is doing.

All the e-books are right there on her blog sidebar.

In addition to all the cats she helps Ellen is Mom to ...

Au

Guido 

Target 

I like orange cats. They're so easy to find and bite. Gently of course.

Mom likes Ellen because they are alot alike. I know this is true since without people like them I would be in a world of trouble. I probably wouldn't be here at all.

OK, I'm getting misty now.

Have a Good Weekend Everyone

Nap

Eat

Nap

Big Birthday Day

Three August 4th Birthdays 

My dear friend Sylvia

photo is one of the many custom headers created by a friend just for Sylvia 

Sylvia always has a kind comment to leave along with hugs for Hope - and me. Her posts are full of beautiful photographs and uplifting quotes.

Happy Birthday Sylvia

Today is also President Obama's birthday. My wish for him is re-election and a Congress that gets its head out of its ass.

Last but not least is Isadora. I believe she's 4.

A lot of folks who adopt prefer to celebrate the day they bring their new family member home but I like birthdays.
The assumption was that she was born some time in early August so I decided she should share with Sylvia and Barack.

Cake

Catnip

For Everyone

I've Word Verified and I Can't Get Up

that's what it feels like.

apparently Google - in it's endless quest to dominate - has changed the word verify interface.

One simple word, sometimes far too squiggly to read, was bad enough. Now its two words with upper case and punctuation. One of the words is buried in a cloud or a star or , in my opinion, a dark spirit, making the word impossible to read. I sit at my keyboard asking myself - is that the end of the 'C' or is that an 'I'?

I have made so many lovely friends here on the internet tubes and I participate in many photo projects. I love visiting you all and telling you how fabulous you are. Think of it - would you invite me to your home and then build an obstacle course to the front door? That's what word verification is.

One of my newest blogging friends TexWisGirl has laid out how to disable the new word verify and how to limit the chances of spam. Please go read her post  HERE, especially if you use the new Blogger interface because like everything else that Google does it's not clear how to say No to word verify in the new version.

Oh and Google - F**K You and the horse you rode in on for killing Picnik.com. You sucked me into Google+ swearing that all the Picnik options were there. Bullcrap! I don't want to create circles and tag my photos and spend huge amounts of time participating in mindless communication  - if I did I'd be on Facebook.

Anyhoo - please consider removing word verify. It often takes 2 or 3 attempts to leave a comment and on some blogs the comment disappears if the word verify doesn't go through.

Spam doesn't kill.

Sweet Shirley

No, that's not a close-up of me. My eyelashes aren't that lush.
That is Shirley looking deep into the hearts and souls of anyone who believes that all beings deserve respect and care.

Shirley now lives at The Elephant Sanctuary, after decades of circus work where she was repeatedly injured by other animals or by performing the absurd tricks that entertain people with pea brains.

This is Kenneth Feld, CEO and Chairman of Feld Entertainment.

The wild, cruel animal is not

behind the bars of a cage.

He is in front of it.

~ Axel Munthe

FE is the parent company of Ringling Brothers Circus. Mr. Feld - aka dick, douche, scum, asshole - recently "gladly" paid a $270,000 fine for egregious violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Of course he's "gladly". He wasn't shut down. The animals weren't confiscated and he'll continue on his merry way of making millions in blood money.

The fine was the highest ever levied against one corporation. At least there's that.

In the spirit of the season I wish for Mr. Feld whatever nature thinks suitable. The image I carry is of a tragic elephant dung accident where a certain spec of trash becomes a needle in a dung heap.
 
I won't describe the violations, it's just too much. I can't even type the words. You can Google all the eyewitness accounts and employee statements and federal investigations.

I'm going to go back to Shirley. She's been reunited with an elephant she worked with. Jenny was a baby when they worked together 22 years ago. Shirley recognized Jenny right away and they have been looking out for one another ever since.

I meant what I said and I said what I meant – an elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent

~ Dr. Seuss

my dear friend Jay, at Bailey’s Buddy, also posted about this a few days ago. You can find a link to the live elephant cam at the sanctuary on his sidebar. Thanks Jay for always speaking up for the elephants.

Just A Cat

If I had a dollar for every time I heard "but it's just a cat" I could adopt more cats and give them good homes.

I'll never understand the notion of trivializing a life.

My good blogging friend known best as Lucy's Mama of  LUCY’S CAT LOUNGE   took in a cat whose people were moving and leaving her behind. The No Kill shelters were all full so I assume they were just going to dump her at any shelter or just leave her on the street.

Lucy's Mama took her in with the intention of finding her a home. She already has two cats and was concerned about the cost and work associated with caring for a third, plus the stress on the two cats already entrenched in their habitat.

While looking for a place for the newcomer, Lucy's Mama noticed that she seemed uncomfortable. Long story short - a visit to the vet confirms kidney issues and the need for surgery.

Lucy's Mama has decided to keep the cat and get her well and make her happy.
I can so relate to that. From Sheba to Jinxie and now Isadora I have always been found, been chosen by animals who need help.

An independent, non profit rescue group called Companion Critters (and they're from Jersey!) has started a fund to pay for the surgery.

If you go to  LUCY’S CAT LOUNGE   you will see the CHIP IN link right there on the sidebar. I hope you will consider helping.

I almost forgot! It's not just a cat. It's ANNIE ...

Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.

~Colette

Recognize!

Do the kids still say that? Nothing more pitiful than a big ole middle aged white woman talking hip hop but hell, it's part of my charm.

Verizon workers have decided to go back to work under their current contract while negotiions between the unions and Verizon resume under what I hope is better circumstances.

I saw my son smile this morning for the first time in weeks.
Right now he and Hope are out in the yard looking at bugs and flowers - one of their favorite things to do together early in the morning.

THANK YOU to the Verizon workers who stayed solid and committed through long days of picketing and worrying about their families.

THANK YOU to NJ Citizen Action a group that always does its best for the community. They kept the awareness out there and they sent members to picket lines to support the workers. My son spent a day picketing with a woman from NJCA who he said reminded him so much of me. Clearly she must have been wonderful.

THANK YOU to you. Each of you who read the past few posts and sent support and comfort. Comments where you shared you own financial concerns or mentioned that you thought of my son when you passed picket lines in your own area. As always our community of blog/real friends is there when needed.

THANK YOU to Mother Nature for pouring down rain and flooding manholes and ripping down wires. Although the storms caused a lot of grief for commuters and residents they also provided a real life lesson for fat ass management who had to leave their big ass desk chairs and try to keep a network running. This burst the bubble of bullshit about how the landline workers aren't necessary. The whole fucking thing depends on them asshats!

F**K YOU to Verizon Wireless managers. Not the workers who had no choice but to cross lines for the crappy hourly wages they need but the store managers and the regional managers who called the police for every little move a picketing worker made. You fuckers will need a union one day. Just because wireless is showing the big numbers right now don't feel so secure and superior. Upper management will step on your heads one day.

F**K YOU to those who said the workers should just be happy to have jobs. That is NOT what America is supposed to be about. Take crap and smile? Let the few rule the many? Get your selfish heads out of your clogged up asses and have the balls to fight the real enemy.

And ...

Big

Giant

Collosal

F**K YOU to Ivan Seidenberg and Lowell McAdam - the top 2 at Verizon. You miserable filthy slimy bastards. You are so out of touch you don't understand how your own network functions and what it needs.

F**K the over $100,000 a day the two of you make. It's positively pornographic to see you pieces of trash sitting in the private jet.

Ivan tries to explain what a conduit box is. Bigger than a bread box?

Lowell laments the size of his dick


And on we go ...