Count Your Kicks

Did you know that if you count your baby's kicks during pregnancy it could save your baby's life?
Doctors suggest counting kicks starting at 28 weeks. Each day at the same time you should count the babies kicks- a jab, roll,swish or turn counts as a kick as well.

First Candle, a non profit organization that promotes safe pregnancies and the survival of the baby through his/her first year, says...

"When you are ready to begin your daily kick count routine, download this easy-to-use chart.

Make sure you note the day you begin counting, your due date and the time of day you will be counting at the top of the sheet.

Remember, each twist, turn, swish, roll or jab counts as one kick.

When you have performed your kick count for Day 1, simply check the box that corresponds with the number of minutes it took for you to feel 10 kicks. For example, if it took 15 minutes, you would go down the Day 1 column until you found the line for 11-15 minutes and put your check mark in that box. If it took an hour and 15 minutes, you would scroll down to the line for 71-75 minutes and put your check mark there.

That’s it! Continue the same process every day for each remaining week of your pregnancy. Take your chart with you to your doctor visits.

Remember, once you understand what the normal pattern for your baby is, you will be looking for any significant decrease in that pattern."

Click HERE to listen to a PSA from the Steelers kicker Jeff Reed about counting you kicks... Start Counting!!

When should I call my doctor?

Just Can't Quit You

I know I'm on vacation but ....Doggonit-
Most of you have probably seen this story bout the Mama Dog who saved the Human baby but if not HERE IT IS from my friend Daryn Kagan's sight.
Enjoy this last weekend of summer..

On Vacation

Im on vacation and will be back next week.

In the meantime I'm losing it as usual.Look what I found in the oven. I had that dinner party a month ago. I haven't used the oven since then. Knew I was missing something! Here the stuffing is- in all its moldy glory..

Good Doggy

Do you think you have a Good Dog or know someone who does? Would you like to do something important with your dog? If so, consider training your good dog(and yourelf) to be therapy dog volunteers, like Betty Boop and I are doing. We are at the home stretch now.

"Therapy dog visits are a proven toll in aiding healing, improving emotional well being and easing stress.For those who volunteer with their dogs, it is often the most gratifying experience of their lives.

To qualify, you must be a compassionate, understanding human being. Your companion must be a calm, people-loving dog."

There is a new aptitude evaluation session for the Westchester County area on the evening of Sept 4th. To schedule an appt or for more info email NYPP@hotmail.com and go to the Good Dog Foundation website.

Lordy Lordy Alleluiah!!

Thanks to those of you who were sad about the demise of my potatoes. But guess what??

I went out there last night and.......they are sprouting up again- I can't believe it!!
Those are my red rose potatoes that have rejuvenated. I looked next door to the blue potatoes and guess what? There was not a potato growing but there was a slimy creature's tail peaking out- it was beige and black stripes, sorta fat and wet- I am going to research what the heck it is- I'm hoping newt, and dreading snake. Do snakes eat rotten potatoes??What was it???

BARAKAS to all of you

Just heard from with my dear friend from Kenya ,Kate Fletcher - all is Joyously well there. There are 5 new girls there now who have come from Kibera, the second largest slum in the world. Here's a bit of what she said..

Dearest Friends of Hekima Girls,

...celebrated our THIRD ANNIVERSARY as a family on Mary’s Day, August 15th...

This Monday saw the homecoming of five little girls from a terrible home in the Kibera Slum. They had been sponsored by Tricia, a young woman of great vision and wisdom beyond her 23 years, and she wanted to protect them from the abuse and neglect they suffered for the last two years. They are ages: 6, 7,8,9,13 and have a great sadness in their eyes.We hope we can love them into smiles that are deep and laughter that is full and rich.

They have experienced their first hot shower and new pajamas, their own beds, bubbles to blow, jumping ropes and classroom fun in our dining room with the big sisters acting as teachers, followed by swings, and seesaw and sliding board. Tonight they see their first movie. We pray we can love them out of their past.

The house we expected to get in August didn’t materialize, but, we moved the secondary girls...

So that’s how we had space for the five little ones who needed to be rescued.I cant tell you all how grateful I am, that you have made this life possible for these little angels...know that you are a blessing,

With much love and great thankfulness, Kate and the Scholars of Hekima (wisdom seekers, all of us)

Thanks to all of you who have contributed to Faces of Kibera-whose mission to find a new home for those kids living in the Kibera slum is starting to materialize with Tricia's blood,sweat and tears. Your money ,no matter what it has been ,IS helping a great deal.And double thanks to you who have contributed to Hekima Place as well.Kate continues to amaze me- not only is she helping all those girls, but she has found time to help the Faces of Kibera organization as well and and squeeze tight to fit 5 more girls..

A little thing Kate Fletcher told me about (not related) is to buy Fair Trade Coffee. I never thought of that before- but this way the coffee pickers and growers are getting paid a decent"fair" wage. Its a little something we can do to help out those less fortunate without even thinking!.

Barakas to all of you (Kiswahili word for "blessing")

That time of the month??

Please click here whether it is or if it isn't.
Thanks to my sister Bridget for the heads up.
Be scared. Be very scared...not.




Don and Betty Draper/Jon Hamm and January Jones
www.amctv.com

Hot Doggety

Is anyone out there in the dog house as much as me ???? I have 6 dogs here right now and I don't know what today will bring- it is going to be interesting to see how much writing I get done with all this barking, eating, play-ball pleading, peeing, pooing and fighting to sit on my lap...Help!!!!

Nah, I love it.

One Word

JEALOUS!!!!!

Michael Phelps Daily Diet

Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches consisting of cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of joe. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.

Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread(oh the good ole days). Energy drinks worth 1,000 calories.

Dinner: One pound of pasta. An entire pizza. More energy drinks

早上好！zǎo shàng hǎo

早上好！ zǎo shàng hǎo ...A Chinese Good Morning to you! With the Summer Olympics going strong it has got me thinking all things Chinese and my recent Flushing, N.Y. adventure. The other day I drove there with my knowlegeable friend Jane, who is from Taiwan. She promised to to take me to her favorite Chinese restaurant and show me how to eat authentically.

First though we had to stop at her acupuncturist for an errand. She told me of the benefits of acupuncture and herbal remedies. I was intrigued.I want to go and have the doctor take a look at me! We then soon arrived at our destination -Sweet N Tart- a bright and cheerful place which looks exactly like its name.It was fun and I was envious as she chatted up a storm in her beautiful dialect with the staff. I bought How to Speak Mandarin for my iTouch awhile back -and I still can't get past saying "Hi" (nǐ hǎo ) so I am in awe of her being able to speak both languages so perfectly and know two completely different ways to write .

She ordered us (clockwise from bottom left on the pictures)Rice cakes with radishes- which were gooey and delightful with no taste of our American radish or rice at all. I could have eaten all of them and almost did;Beef brisket noodles, which Jane said was very good for you- for the bone marrow- there was lots of fatty marrow - I was not crazy about it, probably because it was so good for me;Dumpling trio and yam noodles -another addicting dish- the three different types of dumplings were full of an interesting mix of seafood and pork. I was not as crazy for the noodles but I fell in love with the name- they call them Dragon's Whiskers because they are tied up in a bow- I so wanted to love them, for their name ,but I guess the yam noodles weren't for me;And lastly Yonzi fried rice with chestnuts,pork belly and duck yolk- this was the piece de resistance. Jane questioned whether we should gt it- the pork belly made her nervous but I explained it was basically bacon( I couldn't believe I actually had some knowledge to contribute to the menu ordering!). This dish was crunchy on the outside and full of texture inside- I would drive back all the way to Flushing just to have that greasy explosion of Chinese heaven .

Besides going to Flushing for some Chinese spirit , I suggest reading "Bound Feet And Western Dress". Publishers Weekly calls it "an enthralling tale of a woman who achieved independence despite great odds." And "Empress Orchid" by Anchee Min. Then go and rent "Lust, Caution", "Raise The Red Lantern","The Last Emperor" and "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon".
后会有期
hòu huì yǒu qī
Hope to see you again.

Whatever Martha

I'm a good girl( for the most part) but I do admit to a vise-listening to Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer on Sirius Radio. It's incredible to me that Alexis is Martha's daughter by the outrageous things she talks about on the radio. And she is sarcastic. Always. It's one of those shows that you listen to because you just can't believe it. There are many times that I just have to turn it off, but many times when I don't. Alexis' blog is great- and her recipes are fantastic. She is clearly her mother's daughter when it comes to baking, cooking and the arrangement of food and flowers. The girl never seems to stop baking. She has the energy of the energizer bunny-like her mom.

Well, I was happy to read the other day in the New York Times that her and Jennifer(who is the voice of reason) will have a new television show which will spoof Martha's old shows. It is called Whatever, Martha. Apparently they will be showing clips of the old Martha Stewart Show, which in my opinion is much better than the new one. It was much more in-depth and educational.This one is more fluffy . I loved that old show and have been waiting for reruns to come back on the tele. Well now they will, but with a twist. I can't wait for Sept 16th and the premiere episode!!

Grrrrhhhh....

Oh the trials and tribulations of gardening....

In the front I have awful cicada killer wasps that are supposedly harmless and are to only hang around for 3 weeks but they love my front walkway so much that they have taken up residence for 6 weeks thus far. There is no way I go near the beds to weed when they are in residence..Would you?

These are the taters that I retrieved from the tires after seeing that the plants had died unexpectedly.Pathetic huh??

Whale blubbering

I thought the other day's whale watching was spectacular- but today's was even more incredible- a group of 7 putting on a show; a mom and her baby calf- learning how to turn around and jump in the air (breeching)and slap 'em five;and two very curious whales (click on the green words to see the video)up close and personal.You gotta go whale watching if you are around the Cape or Montauk- now is the perfect time and it's a really special experience. My sis Bridget and I have become blubbering idiots around these beautiful creatures.

Birthday Blues

You wake up and think - oh yeah, its my birthday, its my birthday, then you think awhhh shoot- one more year and I'm fifty,then your hubby and some kids forget but you have a nice day anyway with your hubby and your kids (who then remember) and with grand girl and best-est daughter in law in the world. Then you go out for dinner and a movie and all is well till they decide to cancel your movie- what kind of theater cancels a scheduled movie??? So you're bummed because you finally had your husband wanting to see a subtitled movie(WHAT???) so you go home a little sad, no maybe alot sad and and then watch another subtitled movie (Excellent- The Lives Of Others- makes you believe in humanity and realize how blessed you are in the U.S.A ). Your big day is done. All in all a wonderful and sad, as usual,birthday. Then, you open up your email, one last time and voila...the perfect ending to a not so perfectly perfect day...

Simply Divine

Thanks to Daryn Kagan and her uplifting website Kate Fletcher's remarkable and inspirational story of finding a new life and new purpose in Kenya after the death of her beloved husband, can be watched by millions of viewers. Click here to watch the video.

For me, it all started with many,many prayers for my Tricia to find grace and concrete help with her mission to aid the children of Kibera, a slum located in Nairobi, Kenya. God was listening and the answer came to me in the website www.hekimaplace.org. I emailed Kate Fletcher and we became instant friends. Kate and her right hand woman, Mama Gladys, have helped Tricia and Faces of Kibera a great deal. That, along with the enormous generosity of friends and family, has made Tricia's dream of giving these children a cleaner, safer and loving home, one very big step closer to reality.

If you want to be inspired, and feel good about humanity for a change, check out the great video on Daryn's site.

Need I say more?

Adorable. They sure know how to turn lemons into lemonade. 14 million will go a long way to help the needy. Click here for more.

Ahoy Matey

What a day. We watched whales from a zodiac boat similar to the ones the Navy Seals use.
Click here
to watch the video taken by my sis Bridget-lots of oohhs and ahhhhs but they were so darn close!They are so beautiful. The birds gave us much needed help. They knew way before we did that the whales would be coming up for a show and flew above the area of the sea before it started to churn greeny blue bubbles and voila- hello 40 foot hump back. Whales were all around us but this married couple were so cute.God's majesty at it's finest.

Mad About You

Something to look forward to... From what I hear Mad Men this Sunday August 3rd- is the Best Episode Ever. The New York Post said the show was " the rarest kind of TV show there is- one that you hope will never end."

Let's hear it for the girls of the maddeningly addictive Mad Men. How much does Betty Draper look like Grace Kelly? How incredibly smokin hot is Joan, the red headed curvaceous leader of the secretarial pool? How smart is Peggy and why do we still want her to get back with dirt bag Pete who, we do at times, have a soft spot for in a puzzling and peculiar way ?

So get ready ..