Rounding Third and Heading for Home

Rest in Peace, Joe Nuxhall.

The Opposite of Life

Oh, how to explain death to a three year old? Is there any really good way? When Mom passed, Ben was only two and a half. It was "Grandma Mary was sick and now she's with Jesus in heaven." It seemed to work. We didn't have to deal the all the semantics of it because Mom had been cremated. There was no body to see at the one visitation we had. Ben spent most of the visitation upstairs playing games with a friend and her daughter. Out of sight, out of mind, no questions asked, until now...

A great-grandmother figure in Ben's life passed away a week ago due to complications after having multiple heart attacks over a week's time. We had met up with her in the grocery store parking lot a few days before the first heart attack hit. Ben climbed right up into her lap without any prodding which made her extremely happy. (On a side note, Ben's last interactions with people before they pass on are always happy ones.) Since we had been including prayers for her health in our bedtime prayers, I felt that we needed to attend, at the very least, the visitation so that Ben would realize why we had stopped praying for her health and so he could say goodbye. I wanted to prepare Ben as best as I could for what he was going to encounter. I'll admit now that there was a little bit of selfishness in my taking Ben to the visitation. We'll be going on a family remembrance vacation for my mother soon where we'll be spreading her ashes. Part of me felt that Ben needed a refresher course on death so maybe he'll understand why Grandpa keeps crying.

So, here's the analogy I came up with for Ben to describe death...

Our bodies are a lot like battery-operated toys with batteries you can't replace. As long as the battery has power, the toy plays music or climbs hills. Toward the end of the toy's life, the battery starts failing and the music doesn't play right or it doesn't climb the hills like it used to. Eventually, all the power in the battery is gone and the toy doesn't work anymore. We're like that. When our life battery runs out, our bodies don't work anymore. (This, of course, leads to the why don't you just change the battery question.) Because our bodies are like the happy meal toys that have batteries you can't replace. (This worked for us because he just had a happy meal toy we couldn't replace the batteries in.) But God made us special. He gave us souls. When our bodies stop working, our souls get to go up to heaven and be with Jesus. __________ is now in heaven with Jesus and he/she is waiting for us to join them when our life battery runs out. (Of course, this could lead to a fear that their or your life battery is going to run out soon.) Only God knows when someone's life battery is going to run out. Most people's life batteries last a long time.

Even after this, Ben still didn't get it until we had placed a flower on the coffin. Ben told me that where we had put it was a good place because she'd see it when she woke up. I had to remind him that her life battery had run out and that her body wasn't going to wake up. He was quiet for a little while as I think he got it.

Today, I forgot a meal that I was bringing in to church for my friend to pick up. We had time to go back home to get it without being late for church. Ben asked why were we bringing food. I had to remind him that she was very sad because she'd lost her mommy and people were bringing food so she wouldn't have to worry about what she was going to make for dinner. In a sad voice, Ben said, I miss her. I told him that I missed her, too, but that she was in heaven waiting for us.

I'm pretty sure Ben gets death and it's not a scary, fearful thing for him. This should help Ben understand what this rememberance vacation is all about.

9 Days Later

Ben's passport arrived in the mail today! The application arrived at the processing center by noon on September 5th and we got it back today, September 14th! We actually should have received it yesterday but it needed a signature and we weren't home when the mailman delivered the mail.

I'm not sure if that's the real turnaround time for everyone or if Megan let someone know before she left that it was coming and they fast-tracked it when they saw it but we got it and it's awesome!

Now, if only we can recoup some of that $175... :)

Update: Passport Woes

Last Tuesday around 4 PM I got a call from Megan saying that the State Department people she talks to agree that this is a special case but their higher-ups are holding to line that if I noticed it was damaged at the beginning I should have sent it back at the beginning. To make sure that we get the passport back in time for the cruise, she advised me to get my butt to a post office and get that application in and overnight and expedite it. Okay, she didn't say that exactly, but that was the general idea. She's still holding to hope that we'll be able to get the various fees refunded after the fact.

I called Mike and asked him if we could meet at a post office because both parents have to be present to apply for a minor's passport. It's good child protection for parents who want to sneak their kids out of the country without the other parent knowing but it's annoying for those who have to try to work it out to get both parents to the post office during post office hours. I rounded up Ben and all the paperwork and headed over to the post office at 4:35 PM. Mike, after shooting through traffic and ended up getting there at 4:58 PM. We get to the counter and start the process. The lady took some paperwork and said she'd be back after she made some copies. While she was gone, an elderly gentleman behind us in line started throwing up. Not once but twice. The smells filled the waiting area but we couldn't leave! Mike did go out to the car to get him a bottle of water which he refused. BTW He was feeling better when we left. The lady ended up having to put some newspaper down on the vomit before getting back to help us. After everything was said and done, we've ended up forking out $174.50.

PS My check to the Department of State cleared my bank account on the 7th!

Wait! There's a Pulse! Brinkster's Alive!

After my rather scathing report of the recent service provided by my web and email hosting service, Brinkster, I decided that maybe I needed to provide a slightly more balanced view of my experiences. I wrote that blog out of sheer frustration. I was just fed up with the thought that I was losing email. Every time I got on my laptop and wasn't able to check my email, I spent that time looking at other hosting services. I didn't really want to leave Brinkster but I was frustrated by the lack of information that was being shared with me in regards to their most recent network issues.

I have been a loyal Brinkster subscriber for over two years during which there have been a few bumps which support has been able to fix. The first bump came when the server my website was on was either starting to fail or someone else on that server wrote some bad code which was causing the server to hang. I'd have to contact customer support to have the server rebooted. After a couple of reboot requests, I asked what else could be done. They moved my website to another one of their servers without any additional costs to me. Actually, they moved me twice because the first server they moved me to didn't support a scripting technology and I needed that for my website. Other reviews I've read recently stated that people had lost files when Brinkster moved them from one server to another. I can say that that was not the case in my experience. All my files made the two moves successfully. The second bump was their email servers. I'm not sure what was going on there. Again, I had to contact customer service a few times to have them reboot the server that ran my webmail application. Brinkster just completed an upgrade in their email system which included a feature rich AJAX webmail application which Mike adores. His laptop is company owned and he has to use webmail to check his personal email.

I really didn't want to leave Brinkster. I was scared that I'd have to re-experience the bumps that they had already fixed. Had I had a blog back when these other bumps happened, I'd have probably written scathing posts about them, too. I have been assured that the network equipment upgrade has been completed and they are not anticipating any future outages. Based on past experiences, I'm willing to believe them. I have and continue to recommend to my friends that Brinkster host their websites.

Update: Passport Woes

Megan reported that her contact at the State Department seems to remember something about having passports reprinted and is trying to track down a form. :)

Megan is trying to rush this through because her contact at the State Department has mentioned to her that the extension until Jan 2008 to be able to travel by land and sea on your birth certificate will expire at the end of September and that Ben WILL need a passport to cruise in October. :(

I'm Ready to Pull the Plug...Brinkster Flatlines!

I have not been happy with my website/email's hosting company, Brinkster.com. The internet connection between their servers and the world wide web has been sketchy over the last couple of weeks. Every time I get a chance to get on my laptop, it seems that I can't get to my email or website. The following is the slightly modified to protect the innocent transcript from my latest communications with Brinkster Support. I'm not sure that English was this guy's first language from his later responses and that it took forever for him to type a short response. Plus, they aren't offering hosting credits for the inconvience.

UPDATED 8/27: This post was not fairly balanced to show my overall experience with Brinkster.com over the two-plus years that they've hosted my website. I have removed the transcript with the customer service representative. I am still not convinced that English was his first language. In today's global marketplace, I should not be surprised that that would be the case. I just feel bad for anyone who has to copy and paste what I say into a translator. There's not a translator that's been made that could keep up with my gobbledygook and run on sentences. I'd love to know what the translator told the customer service representative I was saying. Talk about lost in translation! Check out my fair and balanced review of Brinkster's service.

So Far So Good

Ben's been accident free up to today. We had a bunch of corn on the cob this weekend so his stool was a little looser than normal and he got a little bit of it in his underwear before putting the bulk of it in the potty. I'm chalking today up as a learning experience.

Update: Passport Woes

It's been two weeks so I decided to call Megan and get an update. Hopefully things are looking promising. I had to leave a voicemail and I haven't heard back from her. I'll give her a couple of days and try again.

I Love You But Quit Spamming Me!

To my friends,

I love you but you have to quit forwarding emails that promise money or gift certificates. They're scams.

I once saw a video on the web that expressed the way I felt. I found it and reposted it within my blog. You can watch it here.

Before you are tempted to forward something, check Snopes to see if it's a hoax or not.

By Jove! I Think He's Got It!

Fortunately, Ben did start pooping again on Wednesday after not pooping since the Sunday before and he's been pooping once or twice a day ever since!

Today marked a week of pooping in the potty (with no accidents on top of that) so we celebrated by having lunch at Chuck E. Cheese.

Passport Woes!

This is what I submitted to my local US Representative:

Back story: My husband, Michael, who works for xxxxxxxx, had an opportunity to go to France in October of 2005. I was all set to go with him until I realized that Benjamin, our 1.5 year old son, didn't have a passport. We did not go with him on that trip but I immediately applied for a passport for Ben in case this opportunity presented itself again. When we received the passport in December of 2005, I had noticed a little pucker in the lamination over the picture but I didn't think anything of it. I put it in our safe and didn't think about it again.

Present day: We are scheduled to go on a Disney cruise in xxxxxxxx. Mike pulled Ben's passport from the safe and touched the pucker which promptly cracked. We do not feel safe traveling with that passport and have been advised by the National Passport Information Center not to do so. Fortunately, the overwhelming number of passport applications have caused border security with the Caribbean to remain relaxed enough that Ben will be able to travel with his birth certificate.

Upcoming dilemma: It's looking like Mike will be getting another opportunity to travel to France xxxxxxxx and we might be able to join him. I contacted the NPIC on what to do about the cracked lamination. They told me that I'd have to apply for another passport and pay the full replacement amount. It does not seem fair to me that I have to pay to replace a passport that was defective from the time that it was given to me. A new minor passport will have an expiration date of 2012 which is two years past Ben's current passport's expiration date. I'm willing to compromise and pay 40% of the cost of a new passport because that's how much a new passport will extend Ben's passport (2 years of 5 years = 40% of total) although I'd prefer not to have to pay anything at all since the problem was that I received a defective passport in the first place. Since the passport is "damaged," we have to include Ben's birth certificate with the passport application. In order to get a new passport back in time to go to France, we have to put in the application almost immediately but we need the birth certificate to go on our cruise which means that we would need to purchase another birth certificate.

Resolution: I'd like Congressman Chabot to mediate this conflict between myself and the US State Department. If possible, I'd like to have Ben's defective passport fixed with no further cost to myself. I'd like to have the "damaged" passport be enough proof of citizenship so that I don't have to purchase another birth certificate.

Megan, the Staff Assistant in charge of passport issues understood where I was coming from and I'm hoping she'll be able to persade her contact to rectify this.

Thank you, Woot!

Just an update. I did receive my Random Crap much later than expected because they lost my original shipment. I received a bar of Batman soap, a mouse pad with an eagle and American flag on it, and this EarCheck Ear Infection Checker. I also received a backpack as a nod to my complaint that I received a new backpack from LLBean that was monogrammed and ordered several days later faster than my Random Crap from Woot! although they were both sent via SmartPost.

We Have Splashdown!

After almost a most of month of potty training h-e-double hockey sticks, Ben has been pooping in the potty since Friday morning. He's been peeing like a champ for many weeks and has been keeping his big boy underwear dry. He's been napping in his big boy underwear with no accidents. He's also been keeping his pull-ups dry overnight for the last few nights. A couple more nights of dry pull-ups and we'll let him sleep overnight in his big boy underwear.

The only problem now is withholding. He hasn't pooped since Sunday afternoon. If he doesn't poop tomorrow I'm not sure what to do.

It's the End, My Friend...The End

This post recounts the time I spent purchasing and reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from start to finish...

6:30-10:30 PM: I arrived at Borders and received a blue wristband which placed me in the third group to purchase my book (orange - which was gone at 10 AM, silver, blue, green, pink, and purple). I found a comfy chair in the cafe where I could get a good vantage point on what was happening around me and do my sudoku. Many people showed up in costumes included some who were older than I. They, the older ones, were "casting" spells, talking about how great Alan Rickman is in the movies and in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (which I did agree with), and actually turned and ran screaming from another person dressed up as Voldemort. I got up to get a drink and treat at just the right time because as soon as I'd gone through the line, the line had a long wait for the rest of the night. Some dorks came by and taped spoilers to the window. I made a phone call to Mike at 9 pm to see how he was doing. Ben, who normally goes to bed at 8 was still awake playing with his cousins.

10:30-11:00 PM: I began roaming the store to see what was going on. There had been several announcements over the intercom system which could not be heard in the cage. Perhaps the most important announcement was a door prize drawing where the top five prizes were the first five spots in line. After getting my ticket, I returned to the cafe to inform all the people I'd been hanging with on the couches about the door prizes. After that, I continues roaming the store looking at all the costumes and tables set up where kids could make doorknob hangers and other crafts. Go figure, I ended up in the computer section. I flipped through a book on iPods and gleaned some information from books on .Net and Photoshop. I meandered over to magazines and learned all about Posh and Beck's American invasion and about Katie and Suri's day at the beach.

11:00-11:40 PM: It was then that I realized that the magazine rack had not been pushed back against the windows after the last round of posters had been placed in the window. I tucked myself back between the two and had my own "Quiet Space" to relax, listen to the announcements, and do sudoku.

11:40 PM: Security told everyone to assemble either in the back corner of the store opposite the cash registers or to go outside. Not really wanting to get smooshed in the back or go outside in the cold I stayed in my "Quiet Place." Door prizes were drawn and I was 10 tickets away from winning movie tickets and concessions.

12:01 AM: Book sales started. After waiting through most of the blue group, I got out of my "Quiet Place." When the staff had finished up handing out wristbands, they'd left 5 glow-stick giveaway wands hanging from the back of a chair. After waiting 20 minutes to see if they'd come back for them, I picked them up and put them in my purse. About half way through the silver group, I decided to mosey toward the back of the store and see if I could get in line. A security officer was the back of the silver group and I'd noticed some other blues who had had the dame idea I had. I was probably the 20th blue person in line. Another 10 minutes passed before the blue group was called to assemble.

12:48 AM: I purchased my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and drove home.

1:15 AM: I arrived home, fed the dog dinner, put the dog out to potty, grabbed a drink, brought the dog in and put him away.

1:30 AM: I began reading.

4:30 AM: 200 pages later, I laid down for some sleep.

9:30 AM: A phone survey solicitor woke me up. I fed the dog, put the dog out to potty, and ate breakfast.

9:45 AM: I played with the dog with my right hand while my left hand checked my email, visited Woot! to see if they were still wooting off, and checked to see if my hold of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on CD was available. The online library catalog showed that there were two copies of the CD on the shelf.

9:56 AM: I put on clothes and drove to the library.

10:15 AM: I was not successful in retrieving the CD...I was 70th on the waiting list for 25some copies. I filled Mike's gas tank on the way home for $2.76 a gallon.

10:30 AM: I recommenced reading.

12:30 PM: At page 362, I broke for lunch. I checked the Big Brother 8 live feed blog to see what was going on and updated our finances.

1:15 PM: I continued reading.

2:49 PM: I took a break at page 502.

3:15 PM: I continued reading.

4:15 PM: I was at page 589.

6:26 PM: I finished reading the book, content with the end of the series.

Total Reading Time: 9 hours 45 minutes

iGoogle...Do You?

Until recently, I would have said, "No, I love MyYahoo." I decided I might give iGoogle a try after seeing one of my friends use it and I love it way more than MyYahoo.

I'm lovin' the Google Reader gadget. It lets me compile all the rss feeds that I read into one thing instead of having to have a separate page for all my feeds like I did at MyYahoo. I can sort my feeds by tags. So if I feel like reading the E! gossip versus the local news versus my friends' blogs, I can. No, if only MySpace would allow external readers to pull blog info, but I guess that's what keeps people going back to MySpace.

I've uploaded my Outlook calendar into Google calendar and now Mike and I, finally, have a way to share our calendars easily.

So, iGoogle, do you?

Me, not We - How to Destroy America

Former Governor of Colorado, Dick Lamm, gave an eye-opening speech on the dangers of multiculturalism which recently made its way into my inbox and I wanted to put it out there one more time for all y'all to read. It's sort of scary. He gave this speech in June of 2005. It's now July of 2007 and we're going down this path. Check out the original and revised speech.

Happy Birthday Woot!

So I'm up at 1 am, a usual occurance, and I think, ummmm, I think I'll go over and see what Woot is offering for sale today. Lo and behold, they're selling the infamous bags of random crap (AKA BoC, Bandoliers of Carrots, Blingged-out Cabbage, Big Orange Cat, etc.) In any case, I click on the "I Want One" button and select that I want 3, enter my 3 digit code off of the back of my credit card and an hour and an half later I find out that I am indeed the proud owner of 3 bags of crap. I can't wait to see what I get in my bags!

Here's the description from the Woot website:
Bag O’ Birthday Crap XX: For You’re A Jolly Good Sucker

Today is Woot’s third birthday – we’re almost potty-trained! – so welcome to the party. But instead of taking home a goodie bag, how about a Bag O’ Crap? The Internet’s most beloved consumer ripoff returns for a celebratory reel around the crap fountain. Whatever you do, don’t buy it. Come on, it says “crap” right there in the name. What are you, nuts?

If you must proceed, CHECK THIS OUT. Somebody misunderstands this concept every time, so please READ THE BIG PRINT:

1. WHEN YOU ORDER THIS ITEM, YOU’RE ORDERING ONE (1) BAG WITH up to THREE (3) PIECES OF CRAP IN IT.

2. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SELECTING THE QUANTITY: THREE WHEN YOU ORDER.

3. YOU WILL WASTE FREIGHT IF YOU ORDER FEWER THAN THREE. And you’ll get less crap. Wait, why is that bad again? Do you people really need more crap?

You’re only getting one bag, no matter what. The order quantity you select is the number of crappy items we’ll put in your bag. Select THREE. Later, you’ll enjoy the satisfaction of taunting the surprisingly large number of less observant Wooters who ordered less than THREE.

We make absolutely no promises about the quality or the desirability of these bags or their contents, except to promise that their quality will be low and their desirability will be non-existent. We will take your money and send you literal garbage in return. Happy birthday to us!

THE HOLY CRAP COMMANDMENTS v2.0:

I. Thou shalt expect nothing beyond one bag of some kind and your chosen quantity of crappy items (which should be THREE).

II. Thou shalt not whine and complain when some people’s crap turns out to be nicer than yours.

III. Thou shalt take a moment to consider whether you might be better off just not buying this crap.

IV. Thou shalt not order just one crap and blame it on anything but your own inattention.

V. To paraphrase Stephen Stills, shalt thou not get the crap you want, want the crap you get.

The crap will be shipped via SmartPost, the crappiest shipping method available to us.

Confessions of a Pill Poppin' 20-something Momma

Okay, so I guess it's time for an update. Let's see. I've been doing pretty well at remembering to take my supplements. I take them with meals, so it's been pretty easy to remember. You sit at the table to eat, you take your pills. I've missed a couple of breakfasts when I got to sleep in. There have been a few dinners out. All in all, not bad.

My weight loss is stable. I haven't rubber-banded back after the weight loss challenge. I'm still under 200 which is great. I have to get back to the gym to see if we can't work a little more of this off. Maybe I'll get back after this potty training nightmare is over.

I've got to get some MapQuesting done and another load of laundry into the dryer before I go to sleep.

Poppin' the Pills

I went to visit the surgeon today. He was a nice man and I feel that he's competent in what he does. We looked over a little comic book type thing that explained what was going wrong with me and exactly what they'd do to remove the gall bladder. He let me know that this is a very common procedure and that he's already removed 8, count them 8, gall bladders this week.

After reviewing the pros and cons of the surgery and the risks if I wait, he pressed on my abdomen and it wasn't tender. That's when I figured out that I really didn't need the surgery at this time. I let him know that I'd already spoken with my chiropractor and was interested in trying a holistic approach to dissolving the gallstones rather than removing my gall bladder. His reply was polite yet a little mocking. Something along the lines of, "Okay, we'll leave your case open and you can call us back if you need us. Good luck with the supplements. If it works, I'll have to tell all my patients."

I went straight from the surgeon to the chiropractor's office and purchased my supplements. I popped my first set of pills at dinner and I'm feeling healthier already! :)

And the Report Says...

I picked up a copy of the report from the radiologist today to take with me to the surgeon and this is what is has to say.

FINDINGS: Transverse and longitudinal images were obtained through the upper abdomen. The liver is normal in size, shape, and echogenicity. There are no masses, and no intrahepatic ductal dilation is seen. The gallbladder contains multiple large gallstones, which move with patient change and positions, and have prominent posterior acoustic shadow. The common bile duct is 3 mm in diameter, which is normal. There is no focal tenderness on abdominal palpation over the gallbladder. Gallbladder wall thickness is 2 mm. The pancreas is normal in size, shape, and echogenicity. The right kidney is 11.1 cm in length. Aorta is normal in caliber.

IMPRESSION: Choletlithiasis

It seems that everything is else is healthy and I just have a few large gallstones causing me some pain. I'll be interested in what the surgeon has to say, but from what this is saying, I think I'll be taking supplements to get rid of the gallstones and not having surgery done.

Papa Don't Preach...

cause I made up my mind, I'm gonna keep my bladder.

I had my monthly appointment with my chiropractor today and when he asked how I was doing of course I had to fill him in on the gallstones issue and my meeting with the surgeon on Wednesday and I asked him what he thought. He started out by saying how simple and routine gall bladder surgery is, but then he turned it around and stated that the gall bladder had a purpose...it stores up bile and releases it when needed. Sure when the gall bladder is removed, the liver is hooked directly to the intestines but then you get a steady drip of bile in the intestines all day and not enough there to adequately digest certain foods when it's needed. There's a series of supplements I can take to dissolve the stones.

So, unless the surgeon comes out and says that I absolutely, positively must have my gall bladder removed, I think I'm going to try the supplements so I can keep my gall bladder. I'm 30 and God-willing if I live to be 80, that's another 50 years I have left to live. While most people have minor or no side effects to having their gall bladder removed, I'd probably be one of the people who have a severe side effect and I really don't want to have that side effect for 50+ years.

I Don't Know the Answers

I received some pre-appointment paperwork that I need to complete and bring with me to the surgeon. Part of it included family medical history and it was then it hit me...I don't really know my family medical history. I usually called Mom whenever I needed to know that sort of stuff. I figured Dad would know his side but I wasn't sure how much he'd know about Mom's side so I emailed Dad and Uncle Terrence. Since Uncle Terrence is a year or so from being able to claim that he's a leukemia survivor, I figured he'd know his family medical history best.

Rocks For Sale - Going Cheap

I got a call from the doctor. I've got gallstones. The doctor gave me some surgeons to call and meet with. I have an appointment for next Wednesday.

I'm Exposed!

I had the ultrasound today. The nice lady who did the ultrasound couldn't tell me anything. The info collected must be sent away to the radiologist who'll send a report back to the doctor and then I'll hear more. This might take up to a week.

My Body's Not Suffering

As far as the blood work is concerned, I'm fine. The results came back clean so if I do have gallstones, they aren't adversely effecting my body at this time. Yeah!

Further Thoughts

My ultrasound is scheduled for next Tuesday and the GERD medicine has been helping. No severe pain...just a small aching every once in a while. The Mayo Clinic has a great article on gallstones. Most of the causes I've done most of my life. It's only recently I've turned my eating and exercise habits around. Overweight...check. Skipping breakfast...check. Low fiber/high cholesterol diet...check. Crash diet where more than 3 pounds a week was lost and consumed less than 800 calories a day...if we consider my senior year of high school when I had mono and I didn't eat or drink for a month...check. I actually think most of the damage might have been done during mono because I literally did nothing for a month. I barely ate or drank. Mom would occasionally get a Mountain Dew down me. I slept constantly. Introduction of estrogen in birth control pills and pregnancy...check and check. Thinking back, I used to get horrible pains while on the pill. I thought it was it was cramps because I'd never experience cramps before. I'd probably had attacks back then and not realized.

Oh well. We'll have to wait and see what the blood work and ultrasound say.

What's Up Doc?

After having some severe pain in my right upper quadrant the last couple of nights, I decided I needed to see my doctor to figure out what was going on. The pain reminded me of the pain that Jenn described when she'd had gall bladder attacks. Well, I was positive for the saying ouch when he pushed on it test, so he ordered blood work and an ultrasound. He also sent me home with some medicine for GERD which supposedly has a helpful side effect for gall bladders. We'll have to see how it turns out.

How Could This Be Legit?

Today I was shopping at an office supply store named for an office supply when I happened to notice what the person behind me in line was purchasing. He had in his possession two spindles of burnable CDs and numerous copies of the inside liner of a Tupac CD. Tell me...what could he legitimately be doing with those items? Anyone?

My Mother's Life

East Liverpool- Mary Elizabeth Morlan, 52, of County Airport Rd., passed away at 1:35 am, Friday, December 22, 2006 at the East Liverpool City Hospital following a lengthy illness.

Mrs. Morlan was born December 26, 1953 in Dayton, Ohio, a daughter of the late Mary (Simon) Hemmer and Robert Hemmer of Bainbridge, Ohio, and had lived in the area since 1977.

She worked as a freelance vertical market custom computer software designer and owned and operated Morlan Software from 1979 until 2006.

Mrs. Morlan was catholic by faith.

She is survived by her husband, Marcus L. Morlan, whom she married May 6, 1976; daughter, Jennifer L. Franks and her husband, Michael of Cincinnati; son, Robert M. Morlan of Youngstown; sister, Ruthanne Hemmer-Flottman of Kettering; brothers, Philip Hemmer and his wife, Nancy of College Station, Texas and Terrence Hemmer and his wife, Maggie of Glenn Dale, Maryland; grandson, Benjamin Douglas Franks; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

The family will receive friends from 7 pm until 9pm, Saturday, January 6, 2007 at the Eells-Leggett-Stauffer Funeral Home, Lisbon.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the favorite charity of the donor’s choice.