I know that there are several of you out there who know several more people, and they know people, and so on and so forth, until we all know each other.  I’m looking for a few things, and thought, where better to start than a place that can publicly be linked, and spread to get a word out.  Who know’s, I may read your blog/LJ/whatever already, and may have done the same thing for you at one time, or be able to do it in the future.  So… here goes!

I’m looking for a few things.  While they are related, I don’t want the both of them together by the same individual, or at the same time.

1.  I want a Memorial tattoo for my mother.  I’ve thought about this for a few years, and talked it over with several people I care about, and feel that I’ve thought all of it through well.  Especially given that it is a memorial.  To get this accomplished, I would like the permission of the original artist, and if possible, the help.  The help would be more in the lines of getting the line work in a more simplified form.  I don’t know why I feel I need this from her, but would at least like to try.  The artist’s name is Lynn Bywater, and the print I want made into a tattoo is the Santa and Polar Bears below:

I’m looking to get this done on my chest.  Not necessarily huge, but I’m sure it will be big to get the detail I would like.  I gave her a print of this bordered in red with holly embossed on the border card.  Mom loved it, as did I.  She left it up year round, and it is still up in her house.  My step dad can’t bring himself to take it down yet.  I want to get this to commemorate her life, and it’s power on me. 

2.  Next, I want to find a traditional tattoo artist.  I don’t mean early americana traditional.  I mean primitive, Polynesian, Hawaiian, style tattoo artist.  Using a bone or other sharp primitive tool to give the permanent tattoo.  Thing is, I want it to be someone extremely familiar with the northern european primitive tattoo’s.  Stuff that the Teuton’s and Scandinavians had.  I would like it to be a more traditional pattern or design, and if that isn’t very “pretty”, I would like a nordic swirl pattern done in this primitive traditional sense, and start my own cult!  :)  OK, maybe not my own cult, but another take on the Neo tradional tattoo styles.

I feel that both of these are things that I need to complete in the next few years of my life.  I’ve been thinking about them for a while, and would like to get past the thinking and the start of doing. 

3.  Lastly, I need to find an engineer that knows a few things about land surveying, epa regulations, fluid dynamics, and green electricity.  I have two projects that I can see happening in the next couple years, but as far as I can see, I need some high levels of professional help to get them accomplished.  I want to utilize the previous gravity fed water system for the house to be used to generate electricity via a small scale turbine.  I want to see if it is feasible, and possible.  The other thing I want to do is figure out if I can get a power hammer installed in my shop.  The thing that I’m worried about is the artesian well that I have.  I want to make sure that I’m not going to create a sink hole where the house is, or that I am not going to run the risk of collapsing the well.

Money will have to come into play at some point, and maybe I just take it in several steps, but at this point, the thing I need to do is get these next steps started and moving.  Can anyone help out a bit?  If you need permission for my contact info, just shoot me a message and let me know.

Nifty fun idea I snagged  fromseanies

 
The first ten (10) people, aka the first 10 of my friends to respond to this post will get something made by me. It will be about or tailored to those ten lucky "victims."

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a graphic. It may be poetry. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. I may write you a letter. I may make you a set of icons. I may make you a piece of jewelry. I may take pictures and send them to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well, if you expect me to do something for you!

Any takers? :-)

My Peeps:

1.seanies
2.princessgeek
3.  Jennifer
4. gabri
5.staxxy
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

In light of recent postings from a few friends, I actually decided to get this out to a wider audience for more consumption, as well as small amount of self therapy.

This is to a few people, and while some people would only read their portion of what applies to them, it is important that you see all sides of an issue.  I've tried to do so here, if you decide to comment, please let me know where I've gone wrong.

Dear High School Principal;
     When you decide to have Parent/Teacher conferences in a round robin style forum, please take a few things into consideration.

1. Please instruct your employees to sit where they have been placed on the map that you are giving to the parents as they arrive.  When the teacher is not in that location, and parents and other staff have not been notified, it is possible that the teacher appears to be absent.
2. Please also instruct your employee's, not only to pay attention to the parent's that they are sitting with, but the other parents waiting in line to see them.  As you must have considered when you decided to perform the conferences in a round robin, and disallowed anyone to make a specific appointment time, there could be times when you have provided for the teachers and parents to meet that may be more crowded than others.
3. Please instruct your employee's to not take questions, or interact with students should the parents decide to bring them.
4. Please instruct the parents not to bring their children to parent teacher conferences.
5. Ensure that there is a way for teachers, parents, and students to get together and discuss further issues at a later time and date, when it might be more appropriate.

Thank you,

Dear High School Teacher;
     When you perform Parent/Teacher conferences in a round robin style forum, please take a few things into consideration.

1. Please do not accept questions, guff, or even for a student to be present at the conference you are about to have with their parents.
2. Please refrain from arguing with a student about their current grade in whatever the subject is.  The pupil should have plenty of time to receive this information from you, as you have already been required to put their grades online, and provide them opportunities to understand what the work is, Parent/Teacher conferences performed in the round robin are meant to be a time for the adults to talk, and if allowed to be present, the children should only listen.
3. Please, if you succumb to the questions or attitude of a specific pupil, make every attempt to work out another time and place for you to meet with them and their parents where things could be better discussed, and without taking the time of the other parents waiting for their chance within a 2 and a half hour window to see you.
4. No parent who is next in line, should have to wait longer than appropriate for their turn to see you.  I would argue that 40 minutes for one subject such as math, would be too long for the next person to wait.  Again, if there must be a deep discussion, arrange another time appropriate for the discussion that is in the near future, give them the information that they need and move them on to the next teacher.

Thank you,

Dear High School Parent;
    When you decide to attend Parent/Teacher conferences that are being held in a round robin style forum, please consider the following.

1. Do not take your child to Parent/Teacher conferences.  This is not Parent/Teacher/Student conferences, it is simply Parent/Teacher conferences.
2. If you must bring your child because of trust issues, or lack of a sitter, etc, instruct them to sit quietly if they cannot be out of the way.
3. Be considerate of the other parents who are also there about their little Timmy, Tommy, Julie, or Samantha.  They have also made concessions to attend, and their child is just as important as yours.
4. If it is your childs senior year, and in the first quarter, your little sweetie nookums is having so much problems in the remedial math class that they are in that they are in jeopardy of graduating, you should probably have become more involved in their education early in the process.  You need to realize that you are not only teaching your child bad habits, but that you don't care enough to help until it might be too late.  There needs to be consequences for their actions, just as there will be consequences for your inaction early enough in their development.
5. Remember that you are a parent, not a child.  You are the one in charge, and you should not be allowing your child to boss you around like you are 5.  It not only belittles you as a parent, but it makes your kid assume that none of their friends parents are worth respecting.  If you do not do this last part, and your little precious comes over to my house for some form of a play date, and they show me that level of disrespect, I may not be able to control myself from teaching them what respect is, and the level that I feel I deserve from them.
6. Don't act shocked when another parent asks you politely to consider them and their time when raising your child to become a good citizen.  (Not in those words, much nicer, but still).

Thank you,

What a few months it has been!  Truly a roller coaster.

I haven't taken the time to update this space in some time.  Mostly because I've been dealing with a lot of life's little things, partly because I haven't felt the need to share outside of a very small and select group of friends some of the things that have been going on, some has also been because I haven't been able to put to words some of the things I've gone through in the past several months.

So... Here we go for a brief synopsis.

Lawst and I are pretty well out to square one.  I care for her a great deal, as does she for me, but right now, we are not together.  Several of you have asked about things, just know that I'm sharing what I feel is appropriate and accurate with each of you.  I hope she finds herself, and her inner power.  I want her to get herself both physically, and mentally healthy.  IF she can do that, and find it in herself to come back to WA, we may work on things.  IF I change my mind, I may go somewhere that she feels is more weather appropriate for her, and work on things.  There is still however so much up in the air, that suffice to say, we are both happy for our space.

FRIENDS:
I've lost two friends over the summer.  One of them extremely close, or at least for a long time I felt close to them.  The other, I owe the starting of my career to.  Both will be missed, and I'm still dealing with parts of both of their losses.  I'm learning to never let anything stay hanging in this.  This weekend, I'll be with those that were close to my former master, and wishing each other to heal in his loss.

Other stuff:
The kids have had a lot of fun over the last month, getting to be with Mom, and explore things in Louisianna.  They were set to come back last night, but were delayed due to preliminary evacuation traffic in the leading edge of GUSTOV.  They will be returning on Saturday, and a great friend has agreed to pick them up, and take them to crown, so I can attend Mish's wake.
I bought a scooter just over a month ago, to save on gas, and finally learn what it is to drive a motorbike on regular commuting.  Those of you that have known me for sometime can remember when I looked like a Motorcycle rider, now, I actually hope to become one in a few years.  :)  I'm having fun with it, but it has also caused a bit of pain.  See, on the first day that I drove it to work, when I parked it, I used the kickstand for the first time.  At home, I had been using the Jackstand.  Well, the bike stands almost straight up on the kickstand, and started to tip when I got off of it, so I reached out to grab it from tipping over by grabbing the handlebars with my left hand.  The bike didn't tip, but I felt a "POP" in my shoulder.  Well after a week of dealing with the pain, the Chiro I go to ordered an MRI.  Wouldn't you know it, 3 ripped ligaments, 1 ripped muscle, and a dislocated biceps tendon.  Surgery is scheduled for the 24th of next month, and recovery over the next 4 to 6 months.  YAY!!!

The house is coming along, although much slower with an injured shoulder.  I can't wait for the kids to get back, I've really missed them over the last month.  Works busy, but going OK.  In general, things are good.

That's about it for now.  I'll see if I can't take the time next week to update more after the event.  TTFN

Snipped from airlinepilot

I not only want this game, I want to get it into our distribution channel.

My boy is a dyed in the wool Star Wars fan.  He's 5, and yet, can tell you just about anything that you would listen to about the movies, or Lego Star WarsII or Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga (the Xbox 360 Versions).  However, that was until I heard this on the radio and went out to find it.  Just too cute not to share.

I heard a news story this morning on my favorite radio show about a kid getting suspended from school for the remainder of the school year (80 days).  I was a little shocked considering the duration of the suspension, and turned up the station a little to hear what this was really about, and to find out why the suspension occurred.  Turns out, a 13 y.o. boy made a false web site about his principal at the school.  It was a parody to an extent, but was more based around defamation of character, and slander in my opinion.  I think the boy got what he deserved, OK, I can turn it down.

But wait, the reason that this is being told on the station, the reason that it is news, is that the parents have decided to sue the school district for violating their son's freedom of speech.

OK, this I gotta here. *turns radio back up*

The parents claim that because the website was made off of school time, and on the family's personal computer, that it doesn't have anything to do with school time, and that the school district does not have the right to punish their son for his actions that take place outside of school.  Especially when the punishment violates the son's freedom of speech.

Now wait a minute, the parents are defending the child's actions.  OK, lets dig a little deeper.  What did the boy say in this parody MySpace page?  What did he do that made the school board suspend or even think about expelling him?

So, I listen a bit longer, then when I get to work, I dig a bit deeper into the story.  I'm a parent, I've defended my child and her rights to the school before.  I stood up for what I felt was right and just, and was able to do so without a lawyer.  I've also punished my child and taken the side of the school as well.  All of this has been during this year.  The child that I've had to do this for is 13.

As it turns out, while the student did not use the principals name, he used the principal's picture, and stated the school where the principal worked.  Then went on to describe that his likes, dislikes, hero's etc, and all of the items, were lewd, slanderous, and potentially damaging to the principals character if anyone were to take them seriously.

As I'm reading what I'm writing, it doesn't seem all that clear to me either.  There are pictures of the web site, and scans of the court filing by the parents available for viewing on The Smoking Gun's web site.

Once again, I've changed counselors and practice.  This time I'm using a psychology backed group, one with the capability of ordering prescriptions if it is felt as necessary.

Monday was awful - Went to the VA and pretty well was in tears.  Having a breakdown mode.  Really sucked, but got to talk to a few people.  They gave me something to help me get to sleep.  It felt good to get some sleep for once, I actually got 7 hours on a weeknight.  I had been getting about 4 or so hours of sleep.

Tuesday was a tiny bit better - But only slightly.  I actually got some sleep the night before, and the meds that they gave me for sleep they stated also had a bit of something to help with a small amount of the anxiety.  I got to see two different Psychologists, and they gave me a script for Fluoxetine (prozac as it is more commonly known).  They also set up "urgent notifications" for my to be assigned Psych MD and Counselor to get a hold of me.

Wednesday - Meh, not entirely better, but not feeling hopeless anymore either.

Thursday and Friday - Better then Meh, but not great yet.

-----------------------------------

I'm being hopefull that this will help.  I can see things a bit clearer for right now, some things anyway.  I can feel a bit better, and hope to sooner rather than later.  

lawst

I've killed something I had for a long time.  I've been breaking it for a long time, and I think it finally got broke beyond any point I can repair.  I didn't mean to do it, I have never meant it.  It was, and will always be something I treasure, and I don't know how to treat it right now.  I don't know that I ever will get the chance to do so again.  I hope it can be fixed, and I'm going to try and do everything in my power to salvage what i can of it.  But right now, it is shattered, and I can't seem to find all the pieces and things I need to put it all back together.

I feel like I'm floundering.  You know, flopping around like a fish out of water.

I can't seem to get a good assemblance of what is going on.  

-  The boy is having some problems.  We are working through them, and it is a good thing that he is a sweet one, otherwise, he'd be dead.  He's a good kid, but the pushy attitude needs to go away soon.  We are working on it (he and I together), but reasoning with a 5 year old in a mature fashion is tough.

- The girl and I are getting along swimingly.  Things are actually going in a direction that we both appreciate.  She's really stepped into the big sister role far better than she had been.  She is also no longer trying to mother the boy.  FINALLY MADE SOME PROGRESS.

-  Every night by the time I get home, I have to hit the ground running.  Dinner needs to get prepared, school work gone through and signed if necessary, clothes laid out for the morning, laundry done (when needed), eat previously said dinner, read a book, bathe the boy, read a story, and get the boy to bed.                     
THAT IS THE FIRST HOUR AND A HALF AFTER GETTING HOME
  Then, get the girl child in order (what little effort that may take), get the rest of my things in order for the next day, and try and muster what little energy I have to get some work done around the house over and above the daily tasks.  This of course doesn't cover the unexpected friend calling, or loss of energy, or frustration that occurs and could get in the way.

-  

lawst

Just thinking about things, and catching back up on posts.  No I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, but I haven't been too social either.

After the holiday break, the kids and I spent some time getting ready for our trip to BR.  Hectic week and a half before going, but we had a really good time while we were there.  C and I visited the Highschool in the area that we've talked about moving.  It was an experience that she hadn't been looking forward to, but came away from it a bit happier than she thought she would.  We also looked around at homes in the area, and dreamed a bit about what we might be able to find when the time comes.

Both the kids and I had a few days during the trip when 

lawst

Lawst came home for the holiday's!  We had a blast and at the same time did a lot of what felt like nothing.  In hindsight, we did a lot of catching up, and just being "with" one another, and the kids.  I got the time off from work like so many in my industry do, only this year, it was a paid absence that didn't count against my earned time off!!  My company totally rocks!

Sorry that we didn't get to hang out with many of our friends.  We got out one night to be with friends at the Rampant Hedgehog Inn, but not much more than that.  

Aside from the fun and festivities of the holiday's and with lawst being back in BR now, there's lots I need to do.  We (the kiddo's and I) are taking a trip down there next week, to see the area, see lawst's new apt, and to just be with.  I am also looking forward to meeting a few of her friends that I've heard so much about, but never met.

Nights like tonight though, make me real lonely for a change sooner, rather than later.  The girl is spending the night at a friends house, the boy will go to bed in the next hour, and me without a sitter, or a date to come over.  I need to get back in contact with some of my old friends yes, but I also need new ones, and new experiences.  I'd really like someone to cuddle with over here, but right now it's hard to get something like that going.

That's about it for now.  Maybe more later, we'll see.