i want to go to there:

I saw a girl with this micro mini computer at school yesterday and then I saw it again today at Walmart for roughly $280. Clearly I want one (for Bobito!).

I do have a few reservations:

1) I use the computer for two things only: Gmail and Microsoft Word. I fear it lacks the later.
2) I am a Mac. Obviously.


Curtain.

Happy Memorial Day from the Weigleins & Simones!

What a great weekend!

Make way for Summer 09!
Say HEY to Summer 09! (to be sung in voice of the Genie)

someone's inside my head:

I like your style, Atelier Pompadour.

Have you heard the new rumor I'm spreading?


IKEA's COMING TO THE VB TOWN CENTER!

And just when you thought nothing could top that mini version of the 31st street Neptune Statue over by Ruth Chris'...

There's some buzz going around about the John and Kate boo-chee-chay, and rightfully so. I am still scarred by that torpedo belly from the opening sequence. But listen, those parents pretty much gave their children the Kiss of Death by signing up for a reality show taped in their house--- I dont even care if its on TLC.

Remember these guys???





OR THESE:



Comon, Kate. You made a deal with the devil (Joe Simpson).

this is my job:

So... in light of the horrid recession, budget and salary cuts and all out Swine Flu plague, HR has been tasked to boost morale by organizing a Team Building Day. Yay!! Ropes courses were outlawed to do some employees' concerns. So plans for a cookout and scavenger hunt at a local Episcopal retreat center are underway. I am bowing out of any decision making role as I will sadly be at class during this "Kick Off Cook Out" if you will, and fellow Ambassadors in Chains, I know you will...

Anyway, thought I'd share this email between my boss Sybil and our Motivational Speaker for the event as it pretty much sums things up (read it from bottom to top):

. . . . . . .

From: sspurgeon@homesforkids.org
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 11:26 PM
To: rweiglein@homesforkids.org
Subject: FW: ForKids Teambuilding Day

Mayday . . . have I ever mentioned my deep abiding hatred for headgear?

---

From: kisselltalks@cs.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 7:33 PM
To: sspurgeon@homesforkids.org
Subject: Re: ForKids Teambuilding Day

Sybil,

I was at AC Moore today, a craft store. They had really neat colorful visors for only a buck. They have some materials that can be used to decorate them. This would be cheaper than shirts! Everyone could decorate one and wear it outside. They are located on VB Blvd. Or Michaels may have them as well, just a thought.

Steve


-----Original Message-----

From: sspurgeon@homesforkids.org
To: kisselltalks@cs.com
Sent: Wed, 13 May 2009 4:37 pm
Subject: RE: ForKids Teambuilding Day

Hi Steve:

We are confirmed with our venue, Talbot Hall, for Monday, 6/8. That is our final date, I promise!!

Thanks for the great ideas for our afternoon – we have a lot to work with in planning!! I’ll be in touch soon.

-Sybil

it takes a village to raise Bobito

Tommy is in DC this week, Ana is on a tour de 64 de grandchildren and I started grad school today. All of this can mean only one thing: Bennett is watching Juan Bobo all week. I dropped him off on San Marcos Ct. this morning before work and Santiago gave me this warning, "Ruthie, I will watch him but I will make sure everyone knows he is not my dog."

Yesterday at church at least 3 people asked of Juan Bobo's whereabouts. People whose names I can't even keep straight. "He's my bud!" a nameless person told me, "Let me know if you ever need someone to watch him!" I smiled and sincerely thanked him. I mean, I actually spend time worrying that my dog has drowned in the toilet while I am at work- - I need all the help I can get.

Last week at work I received a call from a woman seeking shelter. She was 19, pregnant with twins and living on the street until she went into labor-- 3 months early. I had to tell her that because her babies were not yet born she did not qualify for our services. This girl was calling from the hospital where she was in pre-term labor with twins and was worried that if she went to Social Services for assistance that they would take her babies away.

She is having twins. She is 19. She lives on the streets!

I have never felt as helpless as I felt during that very brief phone call. Once I hung up my brain started working again. I could call someone at church, she could move in with me, I could call Ana! But I didn't know her name or where she had called from.

Since working at ForKids I have asked myself one question over and over again: How can you have no other option than to live on the street with your children? And I realize, my life and my wide net of support are not normal. While I want to find this girl's mother and shake her, I must remind myself that her mother probably lives on the streets as well.

It's situations like this that leave me thankful for my mother, who I have grown up watching fill her house and life with people in need. That is my normal.

King David said God "places the lonely in families (Psalm 68:8)" and I know with my whole life that that is true. Bobito reminds me how much I need a family and this girl and her two babies remind me of how far that family extends.