Katelynn's latests stats!

Today she is 28lb 4oz and 36 inches tall. That's an increase of 4lbs and 2 inches in 3 months. That's good, isn't it?

Michael and Farrah

John Kennedy, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. Where were you when they died? I'm sure that everyone who is old enough can answer on each of those counts.

I am a child of the 70's so for me, the Jackson Five were in all of the teen magazines that I bought, especially the US imports that we would get in England; Tiger Beat and 16. As an Osmond lover, the Jacksons to me were their black equivalent and very similar in sound. When I was dating Brent, Michael was on his own and I remember dancing to Billie Jean at the dances we would go to. His music was huge. My own impressions of Michael Jackson was that he was a lost soul, but whatever anyone might think of him personally, none of that matters. He was a musical icon, a genius of his craft and his music touched everyone the world over who happened to be old enough to remember the 70's and 80's.


Likewise, Farrah Fawcett was an icon of the 70's. Men loved her and women wanted to look like her. We all tried in our own way to emulate the "Farrah flick" every time we styled our hair. She showed such grace and dignity during her illness that she was an inspiration to everyone. The only good thing about her dying on the same day as Michael Jackson is that because his death is such a huge media frenzy, it may take some of the publicity away from Farrah's family and allow them to grieve in peace. I do hope so.

My Dad

After watching the movie Defiance, it got me thinking about my own Dad and his experiences of life during WW2. Whilst he was not a Jew, he was taken from his family (conscripted)by the Russian army and his life was never the same again.
I remember him telling me many things that he witnessed that must have always haunted him and just the thought of him never seeing his wife and children again or knowing what happened to them just doesn't bear thinking about.
He was in a POW camp in Rimini, Italy for 2 years and a while ago I was researching on the web about this camp when I discovered this picture which I had never seen before. There is my dad standing on the right.
The Bielski brothers were truly hero's in what they did and accomplished, but everyday during that terrible war, there were everyday people who suffered greatly and whose lives were changed. I thank my Heavenly Father that I knew one of them and that now he is reunited with his family and is at peace.

Defiance

Brent and I watched this movie last night. It's based on a true story of the Bielski brothers who were Jews in Russia during WW2 at the time of the Nazi invasion. They escaped into the nearby woods and gradually were joined by first a trickle then a steady stream of fellow misplaced Jews. They were hunted by the Nazis and this very powerful story documents their struggle to stay alive despite horrendous circumstances.
It was very moving, sad but yet hope shined through. Definitely the best movie I have seen in a while. I also enjoyed watching the special features about the making of the film and the Bielski children and grandchildren who were interviewed about their hero ancestors. If you haven't seen it yet...go rent it!

Canyon Lake

Brent and I took Katelynn to Canyon Lake this afternoon. We walked along the lake front and paddled in the water. Katelynn threw stones, shouted "Quack, quacks!" in attempt to get the ducks a little closer and had a little picnic under the shade of the trees. It was hot but with a nice breeze.

I graduated from Banner's Winning Strategies Leadership class today.
9 weeks x 4 hours = 36 hours of classroom time, some great education, some boring moments, lots of fun, wonderful people, effective lecturers and a phenomenal pot luck today.

Doctor in the House

Ever since Katelynn's visit to my work last week, she has been obsessed with seeing "babies and doctors". Of course, she gets a little agitated when she says she wants to see babies, so I have to tell her that they've all gone to sleep and that she can see them another day. To pacify herself, she plays at being the doctor. She gets one of my stethoscopes and a small flashlight and goes in search of a willing victim. It's usually Grandad as he does spend an awful lot of time lying down, although on Sunday she climbed on top of Michael to do her examination (not quite sure what the Medical Board would think of her technique?). She shines her light in eyes, ears and then practically rams it down your mouth. This is coupled with listening to a leg, arm, belly, etc and all in search of "boo boos". For the uninitiated, a boo boo can be a spot, mole, birthmark, scratch, stretch mark, etc but the doctor gets pretty excited when she finds one and quite proudly proclaims, "I see a boo boo".

Survival Test

Some of you may know that I'm doing a Leadership course at the moment. Today we were demonstrating how teamwork can really benefit and show that two plus brains are better than one.
We had an exercise to do where we looked at a scenario of being stranded in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean and had available to us 15 items which we had to rank in order of importance to our survival. First we did it individually and then as part of a team. I am pleased and proud to say that after 28 years of living with "Mr Survival Theory Guy, Let's go camping Janet, Let's go to the mountains, Why can't we just live off the land", I scored second in the class and our group (the only one with NO men in it) came first. Yay! Way to go!
What was more interesting to me was when I took the test home and did it with Brent. I beat him! I knew more about survival than he did! Of course he had to go and spoil it all by saying that the "correct" answers were really not accurate, just some person's opinion. Whatever!

A Rare Event

A rare event happened today...I was 3 minutes LATE for work. I usually get up at about 5.20am and leave the house at about 6, but this morning I woke up to "Janet! It's six o'clock!" Yikes, I HATE waking up like that. I leaned over to check the clock for confirmation and sure enough, it was six and I had somehow forgotten to set my alarm the night before.
Basics; toilet, teeth, deodorant and clothes and I was out the door feeling absolutely awful. No shower, no hair washed, no make-up and a day where I continued to feel awful all day. Greasy hair, visible bags under my eyes and just a tiredness that I couldn't shake.
Tonight, it's "Early to bed and Early to rise" but I'm not sure about the "Makes a (wo)man healthy, wealthy and wise" part, though those would be very welcome additions to my life right now.

The June Chicken of the Month

Well, his head looks a bit chopped off, but he was too big for the scanner and it's his feet that are his main attraction anyway, so I don't feel too bad. He's a Belgian D'Uccle Mille-Fleur.