Happy Birthday !!

Yay! Another 1.4 gone. And don't come back, ya hear? Starting weight: 291.8 lbs Last week: 254.6 lbs This week: 253.2 lbs Loss this week: 1.4 lbs Total loss: 38.6 lbs Loss rate: 1.09 lbs/week Last time we bought dog food, I picked up the 30 pound bag to put in my trunk. Wow. One, I'm not carrying that anymore. Two, I carried that around 24/7???

Houston School Board Moves to Adopt New Student Promotion Plan City schools are dropping a policy that required city high school students to pass such core courses as English and math before they moved to the next grade. The board of the Houston Independent School District on Thursday gave preliminary approval to a new promotion policy that school officials hope will keep struggling students from getting discouraged and help cut the district's dropout rate. I… have no words.

Last night was the book signing for Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood. I can't believe I almost missed it! I'd forgotten that it was Wednesday until Rob called and asked if I was on my way. Margaret Atwood was warm and funny with a very dry sense of humor. I enjoyed it immensely. I was able to get both books, The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx & Crake autographed. I was amused (and not surprised) by the very first question: “Taking into account the current state of world events, do you believe The Handmaid's Tale could happen?” Atwood said that…

Piranha let loose in Berlin aquarium petting pool BERLIN (AFP) – Berlin aquarium staff were startled to find that a carnivorous piranha fish was recently released in the facility's petting pool for children, Germany's most widely read newspaper, Bild, reported. The piranha, whose teeth can grow up to two centimetres (three quarters of an inch) long, had already begun taking bites out of other fish when it was found and transferred to another aquarium, curator Rainer Kaiser told Bild. He said the fish was so rapid that staff had to empty the pool, where children can stroke the fish swimming…

In no particular order: laundry Petsmart oil change for 's car taxes Bleh. We owe $300 this year. How… icky. play ratchet & clank 2 clean up the kitchen dog park if it's nice tomorrow get some jeans get some “motivation” jeans for me at thrift store (a size or two smaller) Bzzzt! Nothing in the right size. go to the Swamp Romp Probably not going to do this. Just not into crowds this weekend. fold laundry

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State. – Thomas Jefferson's interpretation of the first amendment in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association (January…

For those not familiar with all the fancy weight loss lingo, NSV means a “non scale victory” – these are even more important than the numbers on the scale. These can be fitting into a smaller size, a compliment from a co-worker, a physical act that is no longer difficult, etc, etc. Anyway, I got a big one today!! After getting a lovely hug from my husband, he said “I gotta tell you something – your ass is smaller!” That definitely made my day. :) So on that note, I better go ahead and do my Tuesday report that I…

Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari? Just wondering…

Even if Reversed, Vasectomy Lowers Sperm Count LONDON (Reuters) – Vasectomies may not be as reversible as doctors had previously thought. New research presented at a meeting of the British Fertility Society on Wednesday shows that the operation has a long-lasting effect on sperm count. Men who have had a vasectomy, even if it has been reversed, produce less sperm and have poorer success rates when their partners have fertility treatments. “We did not expect to see this reduction in sperm count or pregnancy due to previous vasectomy and ongoing studies are attempting to decipher the reasons for it,” said…