Daily Picture - Deer in the Headlights

This was her first idea for a daily Picture in months. And no, her hair is not wet. That's the extra conditioner that never gets washed out completely! Oh well, not my problem!

Funny conversation between Natalie and I last night:
Her: When can I have surgery to get rid of the moles on my face?
Me:why ask me when you should ask if. And never.
Her: But they make me ugly.
Me: you think you are ugly? But all the effort we have put into teaching you that beauty is about the inside of a person, not the outside. Why is this such a big deal.
Her: Well, you have to admit it does sometime matter what you look like on the outside. I mean otherwise why would anyone ever shower?
Me: Well, there is a minimum standard but doesn't apply to things like moles on you face.
Her: Fine but it does matter. What if you want a boy to think you're pretty? Boys don't care about inside. I pay basketball with the boys at recess and they don't talk about how pretty some girl's insides are.
Me: That's because they are 10.
Her: So am I Mom. So when can get these moles removed? It should be soon since you are saying they won't care when they are older.
Me: Dammit.

I am losing 90% of the debates with her now. More importantly though, she wants a boy to think she is pretty. She wouldn't cough up his name, so I will be trying the thumb screws tonight!

Daily Picture - Fashionista?

Maybe not a Fashionista but she does take FOREVER to get dressed and downstairs in the morning. Afraid she is a little like Jennifer, my youngest sister, who also used to take a long time to get out in the morning. Today's outfit required rifling through her drawer looking for a green cami. So the Blue, white, bright green, and black camisoles are on the bedroom floor. Love her anyway. Oh, and that is a Shanghai Roots & Shoots tshirt that was customized by the only Senior Girl Scout in Shanghai. She cut up the sleeves and added a fitted seam up the sides to give it a cool look. I ended up hauling it back with a bunch of unsold shirts to the US and Natalie asked to have this one. Cool idea. Maybe we will get her little sewing machine out and make a few more with some old shirts. Right...

Daily Picture - Snowy walk

Daily Picture (thur) - I No Smile

Loving that my tween already knows how to act surlish!

Best Tweet Regarding Beyonce alleged "lip-sync"

Twitter / samfbiddle: holy shit beyonce taking out ...:

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Chinese bloggers, seeing Obama’s Bible, ask if religion is the secret to democracy - Quartz

Interesting perspective from the Chinese. Quartz has done a nice summary with past comments summarized nicely, however, I did not find the Chinese blogging to be quite so... magnanimous. More on that later.
Chinese bloggers, seeing Obama’s Bible, ask if religion is the secret to democracy - Quartz:

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Daily Picture - Rap Wrap

Reading through her D. A. R. E. Rap. I missed getting to see program. Oh well, she can bring her plunger home and have her do the show for us!

Daily Picture - D.A. R. E You

Today (actually yesterday since I am late posting) was the first of two performances for the 5th grade D. A. R. E program. Their program includes decorated toilet plungers so I am excited about seeing it Friday!

Daily Picture 5th grade

Cold ride

Daily Picture 5th grade

Love that I caught her expression. Had to leave a bit early and so was leaving her on her own to get out the door. When her nose is in a book, the risk of being late is high! But today it turns out the problem was not the book. It was the garage door. When she was ready to leave, she couldn't get the garage door closed. So of course she called her Gammaw, who is in Florida, for assistance. She also couldn't find her key to the front door and forgot she had a cell phone to call me. Lots of crying and worry, all before school. Bet her math test seemed like fuel on a fire. Poor thing. Pasta for dinner will cheer her up.

Will It Be Big Data or Big Oil That Saves America?

As much as I get fracked off at the idea of the elusive "energy independence", I have to admit that there is another side of the argument. In his blog, Gartner Analyst French Caldwell makes some good points regarding the delicate balance. Take a look...


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Amazon’s “AutoRip” Service Goes Live, Giving Customers Free MP3s For CDs Purchased On Amazon As Far Back As 1998 (Hands-On) | TechCrunch

Ok, this is a pretty cool thing. Amazon pushing the envelope in terms of music. Why? Because buying a CD now automatically gives you the MP3 versions (some limits). But more importantly, they are going to give you the MP3's for any CD you purchased in the PAST! Rockin'!  Another example of conceding margin to push the industry in a logical direction. Can't wait until my 1997 purchases of CD's show up. Sorry to Tom who just spent weeks ripping the music from our CD's manually!

Amazon’s “AutoRip” Service Goes Live, Giving Customers Free MP3s For CDs Purchased On Amazon As Far Back As 1998 (Hands-On) | TechCrunch:

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Daily Picture - Is this my baby?

I am struggling with my daughter's increasingly maturity. So thought I'd catch a picture that emphasizes the younger version I see when I look at her. There is no way to put words to the feeling a mother has when struggling to let them go but keep them close.

Daily Picture - Key Master

Using Blogger again. Hope it publishes!

Happy New Year!

New Year. So full of hope. Not many blog posts since we returned. My resolution is to write more often. And considering it Jan 5 and I am just now acting on that resolution, I don't know how well I do at this!

But I am trying the new blogger apps on Android and the iPad. Wish there was one for Kindle Fire, but I have improved my access by 200% so fewer excuses.

Also redid our website, though to be honest Redoing consisted mostly of removing content. Still messing around with Flickr. Have decided to go Pro, but working on how to integrate into the website. More on that hopefully soon.